Can You Train Yourself to Have a Higher IQ?

I read an interesting guest column in the New York Times today.

The writer talked about a study which seems to indicate that environment has a much larger impact on a person's IQ than previously thought.

She talks about the Flynn effect; there is a phenomena that, she says "is too rapid to be explained by natural selection." The scores of standardized IQ tests are rising as much as three points per decade in many countries, she reports. Some are increasing even more rapidly. Scientists have singled out working memory as a possible cause for the increase.

Working memory (as I understand it) is the ability to retain information while actively manipulating it to solve a problem. For example, you might learn a new vocab word, and then use that word to answer a question (I have noticed that is how many of my students workbooks function). In tests conducted by researchers, adults who actively (and it seems, rather intensely) trained their working memory saw an increase in IQ.

The researchers saw a direct relationship between training and performance. As an athlete and a coach, this sounds very familiar. I wonder if your brain functions in the same way that your muscles do? You develop muscle memory through repeated exercises. The amount of training you do has a direct correlation to your performance.

However, with muscles, you must sustain a minimum amount of training to maintain your ability to perform. I wonder if the same is true with IQ? Does your IQ decrease if you don't actively train your brain? Or does it simply remain stagnant? We know that people who do activities like crossword puzzles and Sudoku seem to stave off the cognitive impairments of the aging process. It seems just as likely that with lack of sustained training (even in the form of everyday problem solving issues at work), young, healthy adults may lose some of their intelligence.

I suppose that would explain the phenomena on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" that adults (presumably having learned this information at some point in their lives) do not remember the answers to questions that 5th graders find simple.

Of course, I'm not a scientist, so I can't prove that. But, I think it would be a worthwhile research project.

It would be especially interesting to study in the context of children and adolescents. Working memory and multitasking are huge realities of student life(you don’t just take one class at a time, after all). Does being in school and engaging in a learning environment raise a student's IQ? Or does the student excel in the environment because s/he has a high IQ?


Problem solving and abstract reasoning are two skills which most of my students struggle with. (These skills are the ones that apparently enhanced by training working memory). I’m not quite sure if this is a cognitive inability or an unwillingness to put the work into solving the problem (many students will ask for help immediately, rather than try to work through it). Either may be true.

Nevertheless, the results may be interesting when we consider students who have learning disabilities or students who seem to be unable to remember information for tests. Rather than medicating the student, should we take an alternate route and focus more on brain training outside of class?

It would also be interesting to see how people perform on these tests after they have stopped training. Does IQ function like muscles which atrophy with disuse over time? I know I often feel less articulate and intelligent after having been out of college. I feel like it is harder for me to remember what I have read, sometimes. Perhaps that is simply a result of the amount of stress I am under, but maybe I just need to start exercising my brain a bit more.

All I Want for International Women's Day...

I know that IWD was on Sunday, but I just found this article today, and I really got a kick out of it.

First off, however, it saddens me just how under-acknowledged it is in the United States. I had no idea there was even such a holiday until two years ago. Nor, was I aware of Women's History Month. Or that March 1st is International Women of Color Day (BAD FEMINIST!!).

I thought, originally, that it might be because the holiday is relatively new... wow, that was stupid. It's been around for over a century, but has not gained mainstream recognition in the US (WHERE IT ORIGINATED!!!). I had no idea about its history or its purpose until I tried to put together a lecture on it for my students. I came across some interesting resources. If you would like to learn more about it, check out the sites below.

The Official Website
From the UN

I wish I knew more about technology. I'd post the powerpoint I made for my boys. It's a kid-friendly version (unsurprisingly, I found very little concerning the holiday itself that is meant for kids).

I think the thing that surprised me the most is the difference in American attitudes towards the holiday and the attitudes of women from across the globe. M studied abroad in Cameroon and she said it was HUGE over there. On March 8, women from all over the country purchase dresses made from the same material and wear them, marching for unity. She said that women of all ages came together to march in remembrance of the strength of Cameroonian women and the struggles they still face. I thought it was really touching. Mothers hold children on their hips as they march, young girls run laughing and weaving through the legs of their neighbors and relatives.

I can't even remember the holiday ever being mentioned in my school!

Anyway, in celebration of IWD and of Women's History Month, check this out: All I Want for International Women's Day. This is a list of the hopes and wishes of one feminist whose main struggle is for rights for Aboriginal Women. Enjoy!