Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure.
Abstract
Data from 14 nations reveal IQ gains ranging from 5 to 25 points in a single generation. Some of the largest gains occur on culturally reduced tests and tests of fluid intelligence. The Norwegian data show that a nation can make significant gains on a culturally reduced test while suffering losses on other tests. The Dutch data prove the existence of unknown environmental factors so potent that they account for 15 of the 20 points gained. The hypothesis that best fits the results is that IQ tests do not measure intelligence but rather a correlate with a weak causal link to intelligence. This hypothesis can also explain differential trends on various mental tests, such as the combination of IQ gains and Scholastic Aptitude Test losses in the United States. Over the last decade, scholars in many countries—largely unknown to one another—have been measuring IQ trends from one generation to the next. In this article their results are collected and analyzed so as to reap the benefits comparative data usually yield. It is also argued that this mass of data poses fundamental problems for developmental psychology, primarily concerning what factors have the most potent effect on IQ, what IQ tests measure, and how IQ tests should be used in making between-groups comparisons.
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Industrialized nations experienced a generational rise in IQ scores, known as the Flynn effect.
“Industrialized nations, while embracing IQ testing in education and employment, have simultaneously experienced a generational rise in IQ scores, a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect (Flynn, 1987(Flynn, , 2011)).”
From Human Intelligence, Creativity, and Wisdom in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (2025) · cites this paper as Flynn, 1987
Populations' mean intelligence test scores have been rising since the beginning of the twentieth century.
“Populations’ mean intelligence test scores have been rising since the beginning of the twentieth century.”
From The secular trend of intelligence test scores: The Danish experience for young men born between 1940 and 2000 (2021) · cites this paper as [2]
The data reported by Flynn and others are insufficient to determine whether massive IQ gains are unique to a specific historical period and the post-World War II cohort or indicate long-term societal or evolutionary change, because the range of cohorts examined is limited.
“The data reported by Flynn and others are insufficient to address this question given the limited range of cohorts examined.”
From An Historical Framework for Cohort Differences in Intelligence (2005) · cites this paper as Flynn, 1987
Flynn and colleagues' assertions of massive IQ gains were based almost exclusively on differences between two cohorts about 30 years apart, mainly the post-World War II cohort born in the 1950s.
“Of concern to the study and theory of life-span development is the fact that these assertions were based almost exclusively on differences found between two particular cohorts differing approximately 30 years in age—the massive cohort gains are reported for the post-World War II cohort with most data cited pertaining to those born in the 1950s.”
From An Historical Framework for Cohort Differences in Intelligence (2005) · cites this paper as Flynn, 1987
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“Industrialized nations, while embracing IQ testing in education and employment, have simultaneously experienced a generational rise in IQ scores, a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect (Flynn, 1987, 2011).”
- Authors
- Flynn, J. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Flynn, James R.
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 1987-03
- Volume
- 101
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 171-191
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2063679076
- Cited by
- 1,918
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 62 · 2016: 64 · 2015: 73 · 2014: 84 · 2013: 71 · 2012: 77
- FWCI
- 38.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2008-09-26)
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- IQ gains, fluid intelligence, intelligence testing, Scholastic Aptitude Test, developmental psychology
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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