More time at school 'boosts IQ', according to Norwegian Scientists.

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**Chowderhead**

BBC Health News wrote:Spending more time at school may increase intelligence, according to a study of Norwegian men.

The research, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggested that an extra year in the classroom could boost IQ by nearly four points.

The authors said that extra schooling had a "sizeable effect" on IQ in early adulthood.

But they do not know if this applies to all children, or just those in this study.

A link between a higher IQ and more education has already been established, the authors say.

However, determining whether spending more time in school actually improves IQ is more difficult, as it is possible that children with a naturally higher IQ are those who choose to spend more time in the education system.

'Sizeable effect'
Researchers from Statistics Norway, which publishes official government data, and the University of Oslo took advantage of a natural experiment in the Norwegian education system and its effect on 107,223 pupils.

Between 1955 and 1972 regional governments in Norway increased compulsory schooling from seven to nine years. It meant pupils left school at 16 instead of 14.

The effect of this forced increase in schooling was measured at the age of 19, when the military gave all men eligible for drafting an IQ test.

The researchers reported that: "An unusually large increase in both average education and average IQ is apparent at the same time as the reform was introduced."

They said one additional year in school raised IQ by 3.7 points.

They added: "By exploiting the increase in schooling induced by a comprehensive compulsory schooling reform, this study is able to uncover a statistically significant and sizeable effect of middle school education on IQ scores in early adulthood for Norwegian men."

The statisticians caution against drawing too many conclusions, as they admit that the effect may only apply to Norwegian society or its education system at the time.

However, they argue that it may be possible to improve intelligence in adolescence.

Thank you, Norway. This information was so necessary.

**WARORK93**

.

**dogma**

I wonder how the tests have changed in the same time period, and to what degree autocorrelation exists between the two (test scores and this survey).

**LoneLictor**

This is fething ridiculous. I demand they repeat the study, this time with unbiased scientists who haven't gone to school themselves. Seriously; do you think its a coincidence that all of the scientists who said, "Skool makes you smart durrr" have gone to school? I don't go to school and I have an IQ of 291 according to my mom!

**Corpsesarefun**

I'm interested in this actually, I was under the impression that IQ was a measure of raw brainpower rather than actual knowledge and so school (as least in the UK) would be minimally helpful in raising that.

**AlmightyWalrus**

corpsesarefun wrote:I'm interested in this actually, I was under the impression that IQ was a measure of raw brainpower rather than actual knowledge and so school (as least in the UK) would be minimally helpful in raising that.

It's not "raw brainpower", it's the ability to solve certain types of tasks or problems by means of logic. This could certainly be trained, just as someone who plays chess will improve over time.

**schadenfreude**

corpsesarefun wrote:I'm interested in this actually, I was under the impression that IQ was a measure of raw brainpower rather than actual knowledge and so school (as least in the UK) would be minimally helpful in raising that.

Nope it's a very simple formula. Take your mental age and divide it by your chronological age then *10 (MA/CA)*10

Examples if a 10 year old is on the same level as a 15 year old (able to do 9th grade material) the kids IQ would be (15/10=1.5)*10=150
If a 15 year old is on the same level as 3 year old the kids IQ would be (3/15=.2)*10=20

So in the good old USA we would stick the kid with the 150 IQ in regular classes until he gets bored and drop out, then stick the kid with a 20 IQ in a class where we pay overqualified and over payed special ed teachers to change his diapers and read Dr Seuss to the kid all day.

Anyhow back on topic, more time in school will improve the mental age testing of 19 year old males. We would probably also see similar results in the USA if the school year was expanded out past 180 days per year.

**SilverMK2**

AlmightyWalrus wrote:
corpsesarefun wrote:I'm interested in this actually, I was under the impression that IQ was a measure of raw brainpower rather than actual knowledge and so school (as least in the UK) would be minimally helpful in raising that.

It's not "raw brainpower", it's the ability to solve certain types of tasks or problems by means of logic. This could certainly be trained, just as someone who plays chess will improve over time.

Indeed, IQ is something that can be 'increased' through training on how to perform well at the test; pretty much as any test score can be increased by learning how to 'beat' the test.

**Ahtman**

schadenfreude wrote:We would probably also see similar results in the USA if the school year was expanded out past 180 days per year.

But the kids need the summer off to help on the farm!

And just becuase:

Spoiler:

**olympia**

More time at school makes you smarter? Well I spent the best three years of my life in the fourth grade!

**sourclams**

May as well just say "More time practicing standardized testing makes one better at taking standardized tests".

**Joey**

olympia wrote:More time at school is correlated with higher IQ scores?

Fixed for you.
Anyway it's not even "time" at school it's a whole extra two years at a time when the adolescent mind is at its most active.
So...kind of interesting. But did we really need research to tell us that a first world education is better than a third world one? Probably not.

**biccat**

olympia wrote:Well I spent the best three years of my life in the fourth grade!

16-18?

Sorry. (

)

**Some_Call_Me_Tim?**

sourclams wrote:May as well just say "More time practicing standardized testing makes one better at taking standardized tests".

High five!

One thing to remember about this study: if the psychologists were using one of the variants of Alfred Binets (French psychologist from the early 20th century) first IQ tests, the scores are not intended to be read as a measure of intelligence. Rather, they are intended to be read as a measure of potential academic success. To paraphrase Binet, intelligence "...is not something that can be measured like a flat plane".

_Tim?

**frgsinwntr**

I think the issue is more time INVOLVED with what is going on at school has this effect. Disenfranchised students who do not participate in whats going on are typically weaker in my experience.