Making the most of what you've got
Asians, Jews and West Indian blacks have succeeded because of their diligence, respect for education and family stability, argues Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. Richard Nisbett cites each of...
View ArticleTeaching creativity
While IQ scores rise over time, creativity scores are declining in the U.S., write Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman in Newsweek. It’s not clear why, though Bronson and Merryman think passive TV watching...
View ArticleFluent on facts, weak on abstraction
Fluency in addition and multiplication isn’t everything, writes Education Realist. . . . plenty of solid math students don’t have fluency and—here is the important part—many exceptionally weak math...
View ArticleSchooling makes kids smarter
Schooling Makes You Smarter, argues Richard E. Nisbett, a University of Michigan social psychology professor, in the new American Educator. Actually, lots of environmental influences make people...
View ArticleSmart and not-so-smart college majors
Statistic Brain’s IQ Estimates by College Major put education majors — including elementary, early childhood and special education — at the bottom. Student counseling also comes low on the list....
View ArticleClik here to view.
SAT (and IQ) scores predict success
The SAT should be “abandoned and replaced,” argues Leon Botstein, former president of Bard, in Time. Look at “the complex portrait” of college applicants’ lives rather than their test scores, writes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stupid question on smart atheists
An Ohio State psychology quiz tells students that smart people probably are atheists: Theo has an IQ of 100 and Aine has an IQ of 125. Which of the following statements would you expect to be true? •...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gifted classes help achievers
Gifted classes help disadvantaged students with high achievement scores but average IQs, according to a study of urban fourth graders. Non-disadvantaged students with IQs of 130 or higher did not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
TV seeks ‘Child Genius’
Lifetime is premiering a new “reality” show tonight called Child Genius. Twenty boys and girls ages 8 to 12 compete to answer questions in pursuit of a $100,000 college scholarship. In a preview, a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Does birth order matter?
Firstborns are supposed to be conscientious, agreeable — and smarter than their younger siblings, writes Ami Albernaz in the Boston Globe. The youngest in the family is supposed to be free-spirited...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How schools make kids smarter
“Schooling makes students smarter largely by increasing what they know,”writes cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham in The Atlantic. That includes “both factual knowledge and specific mental skills...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Not so smart no more
IQ scores are falling, at least for Norwegian men, writes Scottie Andrew in Newsweek. For most of the 20th century, IQ scores have risen steadily in developed countries: The “Flynn effect” is...
View Article