After conducting the largest international online study aimed at measuring intelligence, with 100,000 participants, scientists from the University of Western Ontario in Canada have concluded that it is an error to try to use a single standard test to measure the so-called quotient intellectual property (IQ).
In their experiments, Adam Hampshire and his colleagues used 12 cognitive tests that assessed memory, reasoning, attention, and planning ability, among other cognitive parameters. And they came to the conclusion that there was not a single element, nor a single neural circuit, that explained all the individual variations. In addition, the scientists found that age, gender and the habit of playing video games influenced the answers. " People who are fond of video games performed better in reasoning and short-term memory ." clarifies Hampshire. According to the researcher, the data also shows that smokers have poorer short-term memory and score lower in verbal skills. And that the memory of people who suffer from anxiety is also clearly affected.
