Comment
Perhaps the tests are doing exactly what they were calibrated to do. The original purpose of the IQ tests was to predict the level of schooling that a subject would achieve, and the tests were calibrated accordingly. Since students are saying in school longer, for various reasons, the scores are rising as they should.
The only remarkable thing is that the tests work so well, despite the many factors that affect the length of schooling. Perhaps "intelligence" tests should be renamed "perserverance, ambition, school availability and size of parents' bank account" tests.
posted by John Halpenny
June 8, 2009