Things that don't go together, Ch. 12

The Flynn Effect and the Need for Closure.

Flynn, a political scientist with a predilection toward kiwi fruit, claims that IQ scores have been increasing from generation to generation.   Supposedly, the proposition that people are doing better on intelligence tests has been confirmed in numerous studies.  An average increase of over three IQ points per decade has been found for virtually every type of intelligence test in some 20 countries.

The increase was highest (20 IQ points per generation) in Belgium, Holland and Israel.   The lowest (10 points per generation), was measured in Denmark and Sweden. Some studies suggest that the increase is accelerating.

 For one type of test, Raven's Progressive Matrices, Flynn found data that spanned a complete century. He concluded that someone who scored among the best 10% a hundred years ago, would nowadays be categorized among the 5% weakest currently.  Flynn claims the increase in IQ scores coincides with many factors, most notably an increase in the propensity for abstract thought.  For example,  Flynn cites the results of testing of 19th Century villagers in Russia who were asked to solve the following abstract series of questions:   "Where there is always snow, bears are white.  At the North Pole, there is always snow.  What color are bears at the North Pole?"  The villagers responded that they had never been to the North Pole, so they didn't know.

I can imagine the brains of the Russian villagers as functioning on a much more utilitarian level:  more impressed by what was actually in front of them than some abstract idea they couldn't have an immediate connection with.    With all the technological innovations the modern mind is barraged with abstract ideas, images and notions that have little connection to the day to day activities of ordinary modern life.  True, we could do better on these types of intelligence tests, but what have we given up?

The Need for Closure Scale (NFCS) was developed by Arie Kruglanski and others in the 1990s. Items on the scale include statements such as “I think that having clear rules and order at work is essential to success.” and “I do not like situations that are uncertain”. Items such as “Even after I’ve made up my mind about something, I am always eager to consider a different opinion.” and “I like to have friends who are unpredictable” are reverse scored.

Needless to say, those scoring high on the need for closure scale also resonate with authoritarianism, social and political conservatism, and religious fanaticism.  I would imagine that research into the Need for Closure probably has had all kinds of recent funding from agencies like Homeland Security as they attempt to understand and neutralize terrorists, who I imagine score off the charts on this kind of testing.

So,  I know that there have been all sorts of historical antecedents for the modern day terrorists.  Even in biblical times radical religious extremists were attempting to kill Romans.  But what I'm trying to get at and perhaps fit together is the increased tendency toward abstraction in the modern mind may have also increased the need for closure.   I wonder if results in the Need for Closure scale have also increased with the increasing IQ scores?   I think terrorism certainly has.  

Of course, it would certainly be much more complicated than that.   The need for closure increases with increasing social stressors.   When people get uprooted, suffer oppression, live in crowded conditions, the Need for Closure increases.   That probably has nothing to do with IQ scores.  Increasing education and literacy may make also people less prone to extremism.  But they certainly may practice more abstract ideologies:-)

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