Memory exam as good as IQ test
Posted on 19. Aug, 2009 by Jenny in Articles, Brain Training, General, Memory
As the internet cuts the need for the brain to store facts, “working memory” – our ability to retain and juggle information for brief periods – could be as much a measure of modern mental abilities as traditional IQ tests.
For decades psychologists, teachers and employers have relied on IQ testing to assess people’s learning potential. The tests measure problem-solving ability and a person’s capacity for abstract reasoning. Now, however, scientists are suggesting that short-term or working memory is a better and simpler measure of the skills modern youngsters will need in school and in their eventual careers.
Tracy Alloway, director of the centre for memory and learning at Stirling University, is to release the latest research suggesting that tests of children’s working memory helped predict their grades more accurately than IQ tests.
“Working memory measures our ability to process and remember short-term information. It’s about how well we juggle different thoughts and tasks,” she said.
“There is a great deal of variation between different individuals and it is becoming clear that it is a much better way of predicting academic attainment.”
Such findings are likely to prove controversial, especially as Alloway claims that testing working memory also avoids the cultural bias built into IQ tests.
Such bias has been blamed, for example, for the way different racial groups achieve significant variations in their average scores.
In her latest research Alloway gave working memory and IQ tests to 98 children aged 4.3 to 5.7 years in full-time preschool education.
Recently, six years on, she revisited the children, now aged 10 and 11, asking them to take a battery of tests to measure working memory and IQ.
She said:
“Critically, we find that working memory at the start of formal education is a more powerful predictor of subsequent academic success than IQ.”
Alloway’s research is due to be published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Some link psychology’s new focus on short-term memory with the rise of the internet and other electronic databases which makes the ability to juggle facts and figures more important than remembering them for long periods.
Alloway believes there are other factors at work too. “Working memory assesses people’s ability to process information and keep track of complex tasks, so it is relevant to many aspects of modern lifestyles,” she said.
Other psychologists believe IQ tests still have a lot to offer. Robert Logie, professor of human cognitive neuroscience at Edinburgh University and an expert in working memory, said measuring IQ gave a far more complete view of a person’s all-round mental abilities.
He said: “There are many aspects to intelligence, and working memory is important but it is far from being the whole story.”
James Flynn, a New Zealand psychologist, has found that the IQ scores of populations in developed countries have been rising by three points a decade for the past century.
By Jonathan Leake, Sunday Times, 16th August 2009
Click here to buy Memory & Brain Training books from the Canny Minds shop
Photo courtesy of alles schlumpfs
7 Responses to “Memory exam as good as IQ test”
Leave a Reply
-
Alzheimer's' eye test
-
Memory exam as good as IQ test
-
Knitting 'can delay' memory loss
-
Classic novels teach us good behaviour, say scientists
-
The Book Thief
-
insanityworkouttx: You can find a good deal of optimistic reviews for...
-
Ciciliaamoppy: good start...
-
LesqueSoise: Need Everybody's Attention ! - Simple Question.......
-
Biopereep: Hello! Check out an excellent search engine ...
-
Web Form: You made some good points there. I did a search on...
Martin Walker
22. Aug, 2009
It’s interesting that Alloway and Logie are not necessarily saying different things. Alloway says that working memory predicts academic success. Logie says that IQ tests provide a more complete view of a person’s all around mental abilities.
We’ve all known very smart people who didn’t do well academically. With her working memory hypothesis, Alloway may have identified a good correlation because working memory tests require focus and attention, as well as the ability to retain information. All very important aspects of doing well in the classroom.
Further, the only training that’s been proven to increase IQ is working memory training!!
Susanne Jaeggi and Martin Buschkuehl’s study on Improving Fluid Intelligence by Training Working Memory (PNAS April 2008) recorded increases in fluid intelligence of more than 40% after 19 days of focused brain training.
I was so impressed that I contacted the research team and developed a software program using the same method so that anyone can achieve these improvements. Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro We’ve had customers increase their IQ scores by more than 15 points.
Martin
http://www.mindsparke.com
Effective, Affordable Brain Fitness Software
Biopereep
22. May, 2010
Hello!
Check out
an excellent search engine –
baza sie pojebala
P.S. Yahoo – everything will be found! Google: nothing was really lost…
See you!
codyvette
26. May, 2010
. Find the periodic payment R required to accumulate a sum of S dollars over t years with interest earned at the rate of r% year compounded m times a year. S = 20,000; r = 4; t = 6; m = 2 $1263.23 $1322.09 $1491.19 $1734.17
deatuitizinny
29. May, 2010
http://www.watchtruebloodseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/truebloodclaude.jpg
Hello Vampires
As you all are big fans of True Blood, i came across this great where you already can watch the first episode of season 1 .
Here is the link where you can watch this great serie, its totally free and you can stream any episode from every season.
Let me know what you think about it!
Watch True Blood Season 2 Online
http://img3.sidereel.com/_episodeimage/size.1/5e00.2.16.jpg
Biopereep
23. Aug, 2010
Hello!
Check out
an excellent search engine –
Warning: array_merge() a href=’function.array-merge’>function.array-merge]: Argument #2 is not an array in /var/www/html/links.php on line 16
P.S. Yahoo – everything will be found! Google: nothing was really lost…
See you!
LesqueSoise
24. Aug, 2010
Need Everybody’s Attention ! – Simple Question….How much do you care about people?
Athlete Warner Levon is seeking assistance for children around the world
Are you aware that over 500k people died in 1hr in Haiti’s earthquake? Amazing how small this world becomes after an earthquake. So many people homeless without food, water, clothes, etc.
Freelancer Steven Klig supports peace
The children need your assistance…
insanityworkouttx
02. Sep, 2010
You can find a good deal of optimistic reviews for insanity workout obtainable on Web from valid folks which have tried this insanity workout method and finished it with huge final results who have altered their complete existence. Other exercise routine method is normally too slow, but in case you wish to bring insanity workout system towards hereafter degree then this really is to suit your needs. Remember that it is extremely important to be truthful with your physical ability prior to beginning the P90x workout . Injury is quite achievable in case you are certainly not cautious, so retain that in mind once you purchasing it. Those people who already have fitness history or an exercising is going to be acknowledged to be able they can consider the challenging nature of this system. Every single p90x workout can be rather prolonged – all-around an hour even some are almost one and half an several hours, but you can burn an massive amount of calories and start out altering your body at this time.