Massive Study Reveals New View of Intelligence
Friday, January 4th, 2013
Historically we have measured general intelligence using a single number – IQ. That’s not a good idea according to research led by the Brain and Mind Institute at Western University in Canada. They put a set of 12 standardized tests that measure reasoning, planning, memory and other aspects of intelligence online and got some 100,000 people to complete them. Researchers ran a few subjects through a fMRI scanner as they completed the test so they could also look at the activity in various brain regions.
What they found was that human intelligence emerges from the interaction of three independent cognitive components including working memory, reasoning and a verbal component.
They published the results as Fractionating Human Intelligence, in the journal Neuron.
The amount of data generated on IQ is unprecedented and is rich in finding relevant for cognitive designers. For example:
“Intriguingly, people who regularly played computer games did perform significantly better in terms of both reasoning and short-term memory. And smokers performed poorly on the short-term memory and the verbal factors, while people who frequently suffer from anxiety performed badly on the short-term memory factor in particular”.
You can access the tests they used online for free at Cambridge Brain Science. You can also participate in the next round of the study HERE. These test are useful tools for cognitive designers interested in showing their innovations are improving baseline intelligence.
For other practical tools for estimating impact on cognition check out measure how well your brain works and measure your cognitive performance.
I am interested to hear from readers that take these tests or use them in cognitive design work.
