Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

National secular trends in intelligence and education: a twenty-year cross-sectional study

Nature volume 325, pages 119–121 (1987)Cite this article

Some surveys of intelligence have suggested that the mean IQ is rising; others, that it is decreasing alarmingly. The explanation seems to be that the educational level of the populations has changed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Tuddenham, R. D. Am. Psychol. 3, 54–56 (1948).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Flynn, J. R. Psychol. Bull. 95, 29–51 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lynn, R. Nature 297, 222–223 (1982).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Scottish Council for Research in Education. The Trend of Scottish Intelligence: A Comparison of the 1947 and 1932 Studies of the Intelligence of Eleven-year-old Pupils (University of London Press, 1949).

  5. Wirtz, W. et al. On Further Examination: Report of the Advisory Panel on the Scholastic Aptitude Test Score Decline (College Entrance Examination Board, New York, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Loehlin, J. C., Lindzey, G. & Spuhler, J. N. Race Differences in Intelligence (Freeman, San Francisco, 1975).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Rasch, G. Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests 2nd edn (Univ. Chicago Press, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Teasdale, T. W. & Owen, D. R. Br. J. educ. Psychol. 56, 3–12 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. De Leeuw, J. & Meester, A. C. Mens en Maatschappij 59, 5–26 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Howe, H. Phi Delta Kappan 65, 599–602 ( May 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Teasdale, T. W. & Owen, D. R. Nature 309, 620–622 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sørensen, T. I. A. et al. Hum. Biol. 54, 765–775 (1982).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. T. W. Teasdale

    Present address: Institut for Klinisk Psykologi, Københavns Universitet, Njalsgade 90, 2300, København S, Denmark

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Formerly at the Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, School of Education, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 90089-0031, USA

    T. W. Teasdale

  2. Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, 11210, USA

    David R. Owen

Authors
  1. T. W. Teasdale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David R. Owen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Teasdale, T., Owen, D. National secular trends in intelligence and education: a twenty-year cross-sectional study. Nature 325, 119–121 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/325119a0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/325119a0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing