In recent years, the field of behavioral genetics has made some important strides in unearthing some of the thousands of genes that are likely associated with IQ. While the association of any particular gene with IQ is minuscule, the more we discover their combined influence on the development of brain networks that support cognition (such […]
Archives for August 2018
The Dark Core of Personality
Over 100 years ago, Charles Spearman made two monumental discoveries about human intelligence. First, a general factor of intelligence (g) exists: people who score high on one test of intelligence also tend to score high on other tests of intelligence. Second, Spearman found that the g-factor conforms to the principle of the “indifference of the […]
STUDY ALERT: Are bigger brains smarter? Evidence from a large-scale pre-registered study
A positive relationship between brain volume and intelligence has been suspected since the 19th century and empirical studies seem to support this hypothesis. However, this claim is not uncontroversial because of concerns about publication bias and the lack of systematic control for critical confounding factors (e.g., height, population structure). We performed a pre-registered study of […]