Age versus Schooling Effects on Intelligence Development
Abstract
The effect of formal education, as opposed to chronological age, on intelligence development has suffered from inadequate empirical investigation. Most studies of this issue have relied on natural variation in exposure to school among children of the same age, thus confounding differences in schooling with differences in other intelligence-related variables. This difficulty can be overcome by a quasi-experimental paradigm involving comparison between children who differ in both chronological age and schooling. The present study applies this paradigm to the estimation of the independent effects of age and schooling in grades 5 and 6 on raw scores obtained on a variety of general ability tests. The sample included all students in Jerusalem's Hebrew-language, state-controlled elementary schools. The results unambiguously point to schooling as the major factor underlying the increase of intelligence test scores as a function of age and to the larger effect schooling has on verbal than nonverbal tests. These results contribute to our understanding of the causal model underlying intelligence development and call for reconsideration of the conceptual basis underlying the definition of deviation-IQ scores. Some implications of these results concerning the distinction between intelligence and scholastic achievement, the causal model underlying the development of "crystallized" and "fluid" abilities, and the notion of "culture-fair" tests are discussed.
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Schooling increases intelligence test scores independently of age.
“Cahan and Cohen [1989] use a quasi-experimental paradigm comparing children who differ in both age and schooling to show that schooling increases intelligence test scores independently of age.”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Cahan and Cohen [1989]
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- Authors
- Cahan, S., & Cohen, N.
- Affiliations
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Venue
- Child Development
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1989-10
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1239
- ISSN
- 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2025996934
- Cited by
- 285
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 4.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Child Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Keywords
- intelligence development, schooling effects, chronological age, formal education, general ability test, verbal intelligence, nonverbal intelligence, crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence, academic performance, elementary school students
- MeSH terms
- Achievement, Age Factors, Child, Child Development, Education, Humans, Intelligence, Intelligence Tests, Verbal Behavior
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