4 ms·

Anyone have any notion of the size of the IQ boost suggested by the link to a paywalled paper?

tokenadult 13y ago
So far the IQ boost from any known drug intervention is very modest. All of the possible environmental interventions on IQ combined appear, from longitudinal studies of IQ in national populations, to have a fairly strong effect, but many of those environmental influences are still very poorly understood. A recent review article, Nisbett, R. E., Aronson, J., Blair, C., Dickens, W., Flynn, J., Halpern, D. F., & Turkheimer, E. (2012). Intelligence: new findings and theoretical developments. American Psychologist, 67(2), 130. http://people.virginia.edu/~ent3c/papers2/Articles%20for%20Online%20CV/Nisbett(2012)%20.pdf http://people.virginia.edu/~ent3c/papers2/Articles%20for%20O... by a group of all-star IQ researchers who on the whole are optimistic about environmental interventions, lays out some of the current research and shows what is still unknown.
- gwern 13y ago
  > So far the IQ boost from any known drug intervention is very modest. Absolutely; if you look at some of my other pages, you can see for yourself how little I think of most claims to improve intelligence... I take this unreplicated study as being more evidence for the stimulating effect of nicotine rather than any genuine peak intelligence boost, in the same way that monetary payment can increase peoples' scores on IQ tests - you wouldn't say 'the promise of money makes people smarter', but rather, 'the promise of money "enables" people to work harder'. FWIW, I think the Nisbett review is drastically optimistic in some areas (I've criticized it on HN in the past, although I can't quite seem to find a link to my old comment in Google), so the true picture for IQ interventions is worse.
- abecedarius 13y ago
  Thank you, that looks worth a read.
benjohnson 13y ago
My anecdote: My IQ stays the same, but my motivation and concentration is elevated with Nicotine (gum) - leading to a higher score.
127 13y ago
FWIW my biggest intelligence boosts are as follows: sleep, exercise, proper diet, no depression.

So far the IQ boost from any known drug intervention is very modest. All of the possible environmental interventions on IQ combined appear, from longitudinal studies of IQ in national populations, to have a fairly strong effect, but many of those environmental influences are still very poorly understood. A recent review article, Nisbett, R. E., Aronson, J., Blair, C., Dickens, W., Flynn, J., Halpern, D. F., & Turkheimer, E. (2012). Intelligence: new findings and theoretical developments. American Psychologist, 67(2), 130. http://people.virginia.edu/~ent3c/papers2/Articles%20for%20Online%20CV/Nisbett(2012)%20.pdf http://people.virginia.edu/~ent3c/papers2/Articles%20for%20O... by a group of all-star IQ researchers who on the whole are optimistic about environmental interventions, lays out some of the current research and shows what is still unknown.

gwern 13y ago
> So far the IQ boost from any known drug intervention is very modest. Absolutely; if you look at some of my other pages, you can see for yourself how little I think of most claims to improve intelligence... I take this unreplicated study as being more evidence for the stimulating effect of nicotine rather than any genuine peak intelligence boost, in the same way that monetary payment can increase peoples' scores on IQ tests - you wouldn't say 'the promise of money makes people smarter', but rather, 'the promise of money "enables" people to work harder'. FWIW, I think the Nisbett review is drastically optimistic in some areas (I've criticized it on HN in the past, although I can't quite seem to find a link to my old comment in Google), so the true picture for IQ interventions is worse.
abecedarius 13y ago
Thank you, that looks worth a read.

benjohnson 13y ago

My anecdote: My IQ stays the same, but my motivation and concentration is elevated with Nicotine (gum) - leading to a higher score.

127 13y ago

FWIW my biggest intelligence boosts are as follows: sleep, exercise, proper diet, no depression.