From: Dale Thorn <dthorn@gte.net>
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 18:59:54 -0800 (PST)
To: "Phillip M. Hallam-Baker" <hallam@ai.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: IQ and age
In-Reply-To: <01BBDC71.A2A247E0@crecy.ai.mit.edu>
Message-ID: <329CFFB7.E37@gte.net>
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Phillip M. Hallam-Baker wrote:
> >Contrary to popular armchair psychology, there is no significant evidence
> >that IQ and age are inversely related.  In general, however, the older we
> >get, the less we use our brain, and it becomes like a muscle that we no
> >longer use.

> Contrary to popular belief there is no sound evidence for believing many
> of the claims made for IQ tests. IQ measures ones ability to do IQ
> tests and little else.
> They were originally invented as a means of measuring the response of
> mentally defective patients so that their progress under different
> treatment regimes could be compared.
> There is no evidence to support the many claims made that IQ measures
> "innate" intelligence. If you practice IQ tests your score will increase.
> When I was 10 I used to spend each Friday afternoon practicing IQ tests
> for the entry examination to the upper school. My "IQ" increased by
> 30 points over that time, an most of the people in the class managed
> to improve their score by at least 10.

> >The point: Yes, you can improve your brain, and you can take proactive
> >steps to increase your IQ.

> Absolutely, it may not be the best idea if you want to be able to fit
> in socially however. You will then have to leave in a world where
> everyone you meet has a lower IQ.

The biggest influence on IQ are the so-called "engrams" (fears, super-
stitions, anxieties, etc.) planted in your brain early in life.

Some of this can be overcome with mental exercise, and awareness of what
negative influences are holding you back.  Much easier said than done!

IQ as they attempt to measure it can probably be most easily explained
as pattern matching skills. Unfortunately for testing, and although you
can be every bit as intelligent at 70 as at 10, your pattern-matching
skills change and evolve over time, so any given tests will only apply
(more or less) at the age group they are optimized for.