Are Americans Getting Dumber? New Study Shows Alarming IQ Decline Across 4 Out of 5 Key Areas

Is America getting dumber? That’s the burning question after a new study reveals a troubling trend: American IQ scores have dropped across most cognitive domains. This latest finding, which draws attention to a phenomenon dubbed the “reverse Flynn Effect,” suggests that the steady rise in IQ scores throughout the 20th century may have reversed. Is this a sign of a sharp intellectual decline, or is something else at play? Let’s dive into the numbers.

The Reverse Flynn Effect: A Troubling Trend

For much of the 20th century, IQ scores around the world consistently increased. This phenomenon, known as the Flynn Effect, saw global IQ scores rising by approximately three to five points every decade.

However, a recent study from Northwestern University points to a reverse Flynn Effect in the United States. Over a span of twelve years—from 2006 to 2018—the study shows significant drops in IQ scores across four out of five measured cognitive areas.

So, what’s going on? Are Americans really losing intelligence, or is there something else behind this decline?

Which Cognitive Areas Are Affected?

The study, which analyzed a massive dataset of 394,378 Americans, found a decline in IQ scores across four cognitive domains:

1. Verbal reasoning (logic and vocabulary)
2. Matrix reasoning (visual problem-solving)
3. Letter and number series (math and computation)
4. Verbal memory (word recall)

But there’s a twist: spatial reasoning (3D rotation) actually showed slight improvements between 2011 and 2018. While most areas of cognitive ability saw drops, some domains, like spatial reasoning, bucked the trend. This raises the question—if one area is improving, can we really claim that intelligence is on the decline?

Why Are Scores Dropping?

There’s no single explanation for this downward trend. Some experts speculate that a range of factors could be at play, including poor nutrition, deteriorating health, and even increased media exposure. However, the study authors suggest that a significant shift in education may also be contributing.

Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing emphasis on STEM education—science, technology, engineering, and math—which may come at the expense of other cognitive skills, such as abstract reasoning and critical thinking.

Another theory is that Americans may simply be worse at taking these tests. According to Elizabeth Dworak, a lead researcher on the study, it might not mean that people’s mental abilities have decreased, but rather that they have become less adept at answering certain types of questions.

She points out that people who take online personality tests, like the SAPA Project used in the study, might be more interested in personality feedback than in the cognitive tasks being tested.

IQ Score Changes by Domain

Cognitive Domain	Change in Scores (2006-2018)
Verbal reasoning	Significant decline
Matrix reasoning	Significant decline
Letter and number series	Significant decline
Spatial reasoning (3D rotation)	Slight increase

The Big Question: Are We Really Getting Dumber?

While these findings are concerning, the researchers caution against jumping to the conclusion that Americans are less intelligent. Instead, it’s possible that something is changing in the way we approach cognitive testing. Whether it’s the way tests are designed or how test-takers engage with them, it’s clear that the landscape of IQ testing is evolving.

This decline might also be indicative of a broader societal shift. With changing values in education and the increasing importance of STEM subjects, certain cognitive skills may be receiving less focus. However, it’s important to note that the study didn’t attempt to determine the why behind the decline—it merely tracked the change. More research is needed to understand the underlying causes.

What’s Next?

The researchers at Northwestern University are not stopping here. They’re planning a follow-up study that will include 40 years of data to try to uncover the reasons behind this troubling trend. Meanwhile, societal shifts, such as the growing focus on digital media and rapid technological advancement, may also play a role. After all, how we engage with information today could be very different from how we did in the past.

The study is published in Intelligence.

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