|
|
This month's You Gotta Laugh is about a study I
came across while reviewing research for the newsletter. Finally, some
good news for the big-brained Chiarians! - R. Labuda
VCU STUDY SHOWS BIG-BRAINED PEOPLE ARE SMARTER
RICHMOND, Va. (June 17, 2005) – People with bigger brains are smarter than
their smaller-brained counterparts, according to a study conducted by a
Virginia Commonwealth University researcher published in the journal
“Intelligence.”
The study, published on line June 16, could settle a long-standing
scientific debate about the relationship between brain size and
intelligence. Ever since German anatomist and physiologist Frederick
Tiedmann wrote in 1836 that there exists “an indisputable connection between
the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual
man,” scientists have been searching for biological evidence to prove his
claim.
“For all age and sex groups, it is now very clear that brain volume and
intelligence are related,” said lead researcher Michael A. McDaniel, Ph.D.,
an industrial and organizational psychologist who specializes in the study
of intelligence and other predictors of job performance.
The study is the most comprehensive of its kind, drawing conclusions from 26
previous – mostly recent – international studies involving brain volume and
intelligence. It was only five years ago, with the increased use of
MRI-based brain assessments, that more data relating to brain volume and
intelligence became available.
McDaniel, a professor in management in VCU’s School of Business, found that,
on average, intelligence increases with increasing brain volume.
Intelligence was measured with standardized intelligence tests, which have
important consequences on peoples' lives, such as where they’ll go to
college or what kind of job they get. Critics have called the tests
inaccurate or irrelevant to the real world, he said.
“But when intelligence is correlated with a biological reality such as brain
volume, it becomes harder to argue that human intelligence can’t be measured
or that the scores do not reflect something meaningful,” said McDaniel.
As an industrial and organizational psychologist, McDaniel works with
employers to screen job applicants and measure their performance. He said
employers will appreciate his findings because intelligence tests are the
single best predictor of job performance.
“On average, smarter people learn quicker, make fewer errors, and are more
productive,” McDaniel said. “The use of intelligence tests in screening job
applicants has substantial economic benefits for organizations.”
Before MRIs, scientists often used external skull measurements or waited
until a person died to estimate brain size. The external skull measurements
were only approximate estimates of brain volume.
Source: Virginia Commonwealth University
Back To Table Of Contents
|