Does learning ability depend on intelligence? Many parents and teachers associate academic performance at school with the child’s intelligence level and his/her future success in life. Is this true? Let’s look at the research of experts.
Intelligence is one of the factors that influence academic performance, but if a student has low academic performance at school, this is not an indicator of his/her low intelligence. Many people at any age strive to explore their intelligence level using online tests. This is a great way to assess your intellectual abilities. Before choosing an online platform for IQ testing, you can read reviews – for example CerebrumIQ reviews where people tell how much such tests helped them understand themselves and their strengths and weaknesses. In any case, this is a great way to assess intelligence quickly and easily.
Intelligence and School
There is only a lower threshold level of intelligence for learning. If a student has an intelligence below this level, then he/she will not be able to study successfully. But there are few such students. Basically, a child’s academic performance at school depends on personal characteristics: academic motivation, pronounced social desirability, discipline, self-control, trust in authorities, and low criticality. Our education system is aimed at acquiring a certain amount of knowledge and, to some extent, at developing intelligence. But almost no attention is paid to the development of personal qualities necessary for successful professional activity.
Norwegian scientists have come to the conclusion that each additional year spent at school can increase the intelligence quotient (IQ) by almost 4 points. Additional education has a huge impact on IQ in adolescence.
It is not yet possible to say whether these findings apply to all teenagers or only to those who took part in the study, but the connection between a higher level of education and IQ has been proven. However, it remains unclear whether additional education influences the increase in IQ or whether an initially higher IQ level encourages teenagers to devote more time to education.
Representatives of Statistics Norway (Statistisk sentralbyrå (SSB) — Norwegian) and the University of Oslo conducted an analysis of the Norwegian education system with the participation of 107,223 students. After the decision was made to increase the duration of compulsory schooling from 7 to 9 grades, students completed their education at the age of 16 instead of 14. Having subsequently assessed their intelligence level at the age of 19 using IQ tests, the scientists found that each additional year of schooling contributed to an increase in IQ by an average of 3.7 points.
Perhaps this effect could be characteristic only of Norwegian society and its education system. Nevertheless, taking into account the information received, scientists recommend that schoolchildren attend the maximum number of classes, as well as study additional subjects that interest them most.
Intelligence and Higher Education
Researchers have found that school graduates with a low IQ in the future achieve greater success in their profession than people without a higher education. Psychologists from the University of Minnesota conducted a long-term study of 2,593 people. They were divided into a low and high IQ group, which was assessed using the GCA (General Conceptual Abilities) test. The minimum GCA score is 30, and the maximum is 170. Scientists took the average IQ as 90 points. It turned out that people with an IQ ≤ 90 who graduated from college acquired the same social and economic advantages as college graduates with a higher IQ.
IQ level did not affect professional status, income, financial independence, and law-abidingness. Additional analysis confirmed the causal relationship between college education and occupational status for people with IQ ≤ 90.
Although most people with IQ ≤ 90 typically did not have a college degree, in recent years the rate of college completion has increased by about six times for men and ten times for women compared to the previous generation. The findings highlight the importance of college education for people with low IQs, who benefit from it just as much as those with high intelligence.
Conclusion
While intelligence certainly plays a role in academic performance, it is far from the only factor that determines success in learning. We have introduced you to the research that suggests that such personal characteristics as motivation, discipline, and social adaptability are also very important. All of these together, as well as intelligence, significantly affect learning outcomes. Further and higher education can increase the level of intelligence, especially when it comes to students in adolescence, when their brains are most susceptible to development. And what is very interesting is that even people with a lower IQ can achieve professional success and social benefits comparable to people with a higher IQ. This is also influenced by obtaining a higher education. Therefore, it is important to evaluate everything together – both the level of intelligence and the personal characteristics of the student, and based on this data, make adjustments to the training so that it is most productive.
