You Can Improve IQ

 You have probably heard that you cannot improve IQ. But that is not strictly true.

Can we improve IQ or is IQ fixed for life? Well, you may have read in various places that your IQ is fixed for life. That is somewhat true - but for surprising reasons is also misleading. In truth the apparent stability of your intelligence is somewhat of a trick conjured up by intelligence test developers, psychologists and statisticians who have already started their work from the position that you cannot improve IQ meaning intelligence is fixed for life.



This idea is based on little more than the intuition of Sir Francis Galton, and the pondering of some early IQ researchers such as Catell, Spearman and Sir Cyril Burt. Some of these researchers had political motivations for this position, and indeed Sir Cyril Burt was posthumously disciplined for by the British Psychological Society for faking his IQ research data to fit with the idea that IQ is fixed for life and is determined biologically.



No psychological research has ever FOUND that intelligence is fixed
for life.  Instead, tests for general and specific intellectual ability
are developed in such a way that your score from one test take to
another (say a year apart) will not change much.  The simplest way in
which this is achieved, is by masking the gain in your improvement over
time by NOT calculating your real raw score on the test, but instead
calculating your score in terms of how it compares relatively to people
of your age.





Because everyone of your age is improving intellectually at the same
rate this way of scoring the IQ test creates the false impression that
you are not getting any smarter.  Indeed, the whole population is
getting smarter (an effect known as the Flynn effect), but tests are
regularly revised to make sure that this is disguised.  The tests are
designed in advance so that someone in the bottom 20 percent of the
population, for example, will continue to score well below the average
score.  As the population becomes smarter, the gap closes between the
raw score of someone on the 20^th percentile and the average score of someone on the 50^th percentile (always defined as a score of 100).





The newer tests open the gap again to keep the low scorers scores
down and away from the average score.  This is intended to disguise the
fact that the lowest scorers in the population are in fact doing much
better than people just one generation ago.  More illusion and confusion
for the general public!

You Can Improve IQ and The Data Proves it!

Aside from errors in the logical argument that IQ must be fixed for
life, based on the finding that your IQ scores do not change across time
much (when the test is rigged to guarantee that!), it is simply NOT
true that people do not develop and improve intellectually. Admittedly,
the evidence is weak that you can achieve large IQ gains from simply
playing a brain training app.  But the evidence is not weak, that you
can show improvements in IQ from targeted educational interventions,
such as those developed within the field known as Applied Behavior
Analysis. Practitioners in that field have, for many decades, been
producing exceptionally large IQ gains in children with learning
difficulties.





Across many scientific papers that I (Dr. Bryan Roche) and others
have published over the past decade, it has been shown repeatedly that
scores on a wide variety of standardized measures of intelligence and
cognitive abilities, can be raised significantly using a Relational
Frame Theory-based intervention known as SMART (Strengthening Mental
Abilities with Relational Training) that does not involve training of
skills directly relevant to IQ tests.





The SMART method is closely related to the types of techniques used
in Applied Behavior Analysis and was developed across several peer
reviewed scientific papers.  Calling the SMART method “brain training”
may be a bit of an over-simplification.  It is targeted fundamental
intellectual skills training done in a digital format.   We have argued
for many years that this is clear evidence for “far transfer”. That is,
we consistently get very large gains in IQ for most or all users of
SMART training, that we have made available at RaiseYourIQ.com, on every
and all measures employed to asses intelligence (e.g., arithmetic,
vocabulary, reading), despite the fact that our intervention is in no
way “training to the test”. That is, there are no IQ test items in our
training.





Our classic online training uses nonsense words only (no recognisable
or nameable words or shapes of any kind). Our training for younger kids
does use images and real words as a workup to the classic training so
widely cited in the scientific research literature. We train only a
small number of syllogistic-style reasoning tasks that we have
discovered are relevant to almost every aspect of intellectual
functioning.  But we do it across thousands of tasks over many months of
casual training in an online game-like environment.



you can improve IQ:





Despite the admittedly almost unbelievable results obtained for the effects of SMART training at RaiseYourIQ.com,
across several studies from several labs using several different
measures across several different populations, the public is still not
convinced that IQ tests of all kinds measure a flexible skill set rather
than a fixed trait and that you can in fact Raise Your IQ. The data is
out there. The data is published in peer reviewed scientific journals of
all kinds.  The discussions of this data happen at conferences all over
the world – but it takes time for these ideas to replace well-worn
tropes about the fixedness of intelligence.  That old idea is stuck
firmly in the public psyche, even though the evidence for this outdated
position is questionable in terms of theory and incorrect in terms of
empirical data.

WHAT underlies my IQ score then?

What our research program at Maynooth University, Ireland, has
found, is that there is indeed an underlying factor that determines our
IQ score, but it is not something we are born with – it is a skill set
that is in fact quite easy to teach and improve.  That skill set is
known as Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding (AARR),
which is a technical way of referring to a very particular type of
logical reasoning that underlies all higher levels of day-to-day
intellectual activity (reading, problem solving, language acquisition). 
Dozens of published studies in the field of Relational Frame Theory
have shown that this skill is easily improved, and others, mostly using
SMART training, have shown that when we do this, large IQ gains follow.





Here is an example of the type of AARR training task that we might
use in SMART training. This example uses what we call nonsense words and
requires the user to solve a logical puzzle of a very particular type.





CUH is opposite to DEJ


ARU is the same as GEY


ARU is opposite to DEJ.


Are CUH and GEY the same?





It is NOT important for the user to know the answer at the outset (the answer is yes!). This is not a test.  It is training. 
What is important is that across thousands of such examples (many
easier than this example) we teach users the correct answers, and so
they learn the very large pattern of possible ways in which such logical
statements lead to logical conclusions involving relationships among
words or things in the world.  We increase the speed and accuracy of
users on such tasks in logical stages, from the lowest level upwards,
using an algorithm that we have worked out across research studies. When
we do this people get smarter. 

It is time to change our view of Intelligence

 


It is said that science is a self-correcting process. The data will
always correct the theory and lead us forward in developing more
effective ways to help people.  Now, old fashioned and outdated
intelligence theory is moving further and further away from the
empirical facts. The political reasons for holding on to those old ideas
is hampering, rather than helping us in developing better interventions
to improve IQ and raise the intellectual ability of the world’s entire
population. It is time to move on and get with the data.  For more
information and research references visit SMART brain training

tips on how to improve your memory

tips on how to improve your memory: Improve Your Memory

How to improve your memory for both short- and long-term recall is not as difficult as it may appear. Yes, there are techniques to improve memory however it does take practice to maintain a higher level of memory recall. Clinical research has shown that memory is an essential component of cognitive functioning and that this too can be improved (Jaeggi et al., 2008). This research also show that our IQ score is no longer a number that limits us. Read on to get tips on how to improve your memory and raise your IQ.

Tips on How to Improve Your Memory 1. Practice and rehearse Start by really understanding the topic or piece of information you wish to remember, then once you have the basic understanding in place you will need to keep rehearsing the information to ensures it sticks. That old saying of practice makes perfect is very relevant when you are trying to remember new things. If you want to make information come to mind automatically, you need to rehearse it regularly. Then you will be able to recall it quickly when you need to, whether that be for school, business or at social events.

2. Pay attention and engage with information Psychologists Craik and Lockhart found that the more attention we pay to the meaning of what we see, hear and learn, then the better we will remember it. They proved that improving our memory is a function of how effortful and meaningful our initial encoding of the information was. The outcome is if we process information on a deeper level, we will be better able to recall that information. Psychologists and teachers tell us that understanding something aids our memory and it is harder to remember things if we merely rote learning without fully comprehending the information.

3. Visualize and use imagery We live in a visual world which means there are many ways that we can use the power of visual imagery as a memory aid. For example, try using a mind map, where we imagine a map of the information or a tree with the branches that stem out each holding an important and relevant fact or nugget of information. Another example is to imagine a cloakroom with each of the pegs holding a piece of information. Whatever method you prefer, the key point is that when we visualize the information as we study or learn it, we can recall it later much easier.

4. Try Drawing Drawing is a great way to help anyone with remembering new information, but especially for older adults. This has been backed up from research conducted at the University of Waterloo in Canada. They found that drawing out words and drawing the physical attributes of a word enhanced the memory of older adults with possible benefits for people suffering from dementia. Drawing is a memory encoding technique that works cross generational and kids find it fun and educational.

5. Start using acronyms Research has shown that our brains are better at retrieving things when we associate meaning to them. When we were in school, a teacher or parent likely taught us to use acronyms and my guess is that most of us still remember some version of these. Remember this one? to memorize the directions on the compass, we use the acronym NEWS (North, East, West, and South). Or this one? “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” (Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto). Not only are acronyms fun and they really work. You can also use a similar technique if you are trying to remember names at a party or gathering (e.g., Black orange boots for Bob or Purple attire things for Pat. Go ahead and make up your own acronyms for anything you want to remember. The trick is to list the thing you want to memorize and arrange it in an order such that the first letter of each word spells a real word.

6. Pay attention to the beginnings and endings Research on how to improve your memory points to the fact that that we remember more at the beginning and end of learning sessions or lessons. Now none is suggesting you zone out in the middle of a lesson, lecture or training session. This is about being aware of our optimal memory times. So, listen up and pay closer attention to the introductions and conclusions when being presented with information. Always ask a teacher or the presenter to summarize the main points of the lesson or lecture again at the end.

7. Try brain training Some (not all) Brain Training to Raise IQ programs can help improve your memory and raise your IQ. It may surprise you that the brain is a muscle much like other muscles in your body. Your brain needs constant use and exercise to stay healthy. Think of brain training as a mental workout which helps challenge your mind so it can grow and expand. Research carried out by our own Dr. Bryan Roche found that people who engaged with 20- 30 minutes of brain training activities (using relation frame theory) for 5 days a week had improvements in learning, mathematical and verbal skills, educational aptitude, working memory, Performance IQ, verbal IQ, perceptual reasoning skills, visual processing skills, working memory and general intelligence. This was for users of all ages and intelligence levels.

8. Practice Meditation Researchers from The Department of Motor Sciences and Wellness, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy note that many studies show meditation improves brain function, reduces markers of brain degeneration, and improves both working memory and long-term memory. They showed that routine meditative practice is associated with a long-lasting change in the topology of definite brain areas, suggesting that meditation might be able to induce brain plasticity.

9. Read It Out Aloud You may remember from your school days, when your teacher asked you to stand up and read out aloud a story or poem. Well, a team at the University of Waterloo found that you’re more likely to remember written information if you read it out aloud. The consensus is that reading combined with hearing yourself reading can have a positive effect to improve your memory. Other studies also confirm that learning and memory benefit from active involvement. When a person adds an active element to a word (reading it out aloud), that word becomes more distinct in long-term memory, and so more memorable.

Improve Your Memory Summary These are just 9 ways to improve your memory, we are sure there are many more techniques for improving memory, all of which would be beneficial for a person's brain health. Why not start today, whether you are a student, professional or a retiree. Because even adding one or two memory improvement activities to your daily routine can help keep your brain healthy and strong. To improve your memory not only protects the brain from memory loss but it will also boost learning and information recall. If you would like to dig deeper into The Science Behind Brain Training the science of brain training, then read here – Smart Brain Training