Increase your IQ by four points

March 10, 2009 by Sam Wang

For the next month, I’ll be guest-blogging at the New York Times, on Olivia Judson’s site, The Wild Side. Olivia’s off working on her latest book, leaving the writing in various hands – including those of me and my co-author, Sandra Aamodt.

This week we write about intelligence, and how it can be affected by environmental factors. We focus on working memory, which when exercised can improve fluid, problem-solving intelligence. Practice on such a task can raise your IQ by at least four points, on average. Check it out

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6 Comments

Michael Petty says:

Dear Professor Wang
I was interested in your article in the NYT today, as someone who once did some published statistical work on IQ but also as a political researcher. I’ve been into Buddhist type meditation for some time and I recently came across brainwave entrainment. I have a commercial package NQ2 which claims to induce alpha, theta and other brain waves through entrainment (induces a beat at the prescribed rate). They claim to have audio tracks that raise IQ.
The theory seems to be that we learn faster if we are in alpha or theta for instance.
I have tried meditation while in alpha and it seems to work to the extent that extraneous thoughts are less likely to intrude on focus on breath.
Do you have an opinion on b.w. entrainment as a means of raising IQ?
Michael Petty PhD – formerly faculty of educatiom, University of NSW, Australia

BCC says:

Thanks for the tip. I smell an interesting iPhone application…

BCC says:

Re: iPhone: Already exists.
See my link for the iPhone application ($5). I was thinking of making a free one though…

Leon Edward says:

I’m searching for your contributions on intelligence cited above in the times earlier this year. Any chance tiy still get this comment, please let me know if your articles are available somewhere online or in a zip file

Kathleen Gleeson Schleinich says:

Michael Petty, are you the Australian professor who rented the back of my house whle you did research at the University of Calgary, from January 1 1981 to probably May or June?
I am making an album of the visiting scholars who stayed there throughout the years. If you are the same, and are willing, would you please send me a picture, old or new?
I hope life has treated you well.
Kathleen ( was I called Kay before?) Gleeson
And Happy New Year.

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