For many individuals, it is a given that with age comes greater wisdom. Now, psychologists at the University of Texas at San Antonio know that adolecsents’ higher levels of intelligence are due to the fact that their mental speed increases.
These are the findings of a recent study involving 6,969 adolescents, who were between the ages of 13 and 17, and took part in the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. As a part of this research, these individuals took IQ tests – which measured their knowledge of math and vocabulary – and mental speed assessments – which asked participants to complete timed arithmetic tasks.
The psychologists reviewed the data from this survey and found that older teenagers outperformed their fellow participants who were younger in age. Furthermore, they came to the conclusion that higher intelligence was almost entirely the result of faster mental speed.
"Performance on intelligence tests reflects, in part, the speed of acquiring knowledge, learning things and solving problems," said Thomas Coyle, the study’s lead author.
Parents who are curious to see how their children’s intelligence is changing with each passing year may want to have them take an IQ test.
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