article_snippet: average intelligence has been steadily increasing, scientists have claimed.
article_snippet: In research looking back over IQ tests from the past few decades, scientists found that the tests were becoming harder - but people were still doing just as well.
article_snippet: Since 1950, average intelligence was found to have risen by about 20 IQ points.
article_snippet: Since 1950, it was found that the average intelligence had risen by the equivalent of 20 IQ points. '
article_snippet: ‘IQ tests are designed to ensure that the average result is always 100, so this is a significant jump,’ the BBC reported.
article_snippet: He had noticed that IQ tests were getting harder, but people were still getting similar scores on them - which became known as the Flynn Effect.
article_snippet: Apparently, if modern Americans took a test from a century ago, Americans would get a relatively high average IQ score of 130; vice versa, and our ancestors would score a measly average of 70.
article_snippet: This equates to a three-point rise in IQ per decade.
article_snippet: According to the new study, though, outside of the US the biggest change was clearly in developing countries, IQ was
article_snippet: Perhaps most importantly, though, is that the instance of IQ increasing was not just true in general for the world as a whole - but could also be noticed on a much smaller scale.
highlights_snippet: Since 1950, average intelligence was found to rise by about 20 IQ points .
  