Practice question · Multiple choice
IQ scores are strikingly stable across decades, yet the Flynn effect shows raw performance rising fast between generations. How can both be true?
Hints
- An IQ score says where you stand relative to your age group. Ask what happens if the whole group improves.
- Two different quantities are being called stable and rising. Name them.
Show the answer
B. Because stability is about rank and the Flynn effect about absolute level
Why
Rank and level are different measurements. Your position among peers holds across decades while the entire distribution moves, so a person is stable and their cohort is not, and only the second is invisible in a score pinned to a mean of 100.
Practise Psychometric Theories of Intelligence
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