The Flynn Effect

[jthegreat]

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It could very well be that people are getting more practice with a certain type of question, and thus just perform better on the test, while not being any more intelligent.

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Since the questions are designed to test certain aspects of intelligence, if people are getting better at answering the questions, then they ARE becoming more intelligent, at least in that specific area.

[gumpzilla]

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Since the questions are designed to test certain aspects of intelligence, if people are getting better at answering the questions, then they ARE becoming more intelligent, at least in that specific area.

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I'm not convinced. To make an analogy, I might be a better ultimate frisbee player than many because I have substantial experience at it, but I'm pretty out of shape and not the world's finest athletic specimen even when well-conditioned. There are plenty of people who are likely to have better natural inclination for the game, but just aren't as good at it yet. I think intelligence is better defined as being analogous to the natural inclination rather than the acquired skill, and I think that more familiarity with the brand of questions offered suggests skill, instead.