WORKING ITS MAGIC - IQ RISE AND THE DEMOGRAPHY OF THE CLASSROOM

This paper discusses the rise in IQ scores over time and the various r easons which have been offered to explain this phenomenon. The steady fall over the years in age at levels of schooling has not been offered as an explanation in current and past debates. The effect of age chan ge on Ie scores will be demonstrated using data from the standardisati on in 1936 and restandardisation in 1968 of the Otis intermediate Test of Mental Ability Form A in New Zealand. An apparent rise in score of one year of Mental Age when age is the basis for comparison can be la rgely accounted for by the changing distribution of age at levels of s chooling, The evidence does not support g as a component of re scores but neither does it support the usual environmental explanations for t he rise.