Flynn Effect - The Flynn Effect and IQ Group Differences

The Flynn Effect and IQ Group Differences

If the Flynn effect has ended in developed nations, then this may possibly allow national differences in IQ scores to diminish if the Flynn effect continues in nations with lower average national IQs.

Also, if the Flynn effect has ended for the majority in developed nations, it may still continue for minorities, especially for groups like immigrants where many may have received poor nutrition during early childhood or have had other disadvantages. A study in the Netherlands found that children of non-Western immigrants had improvements for g, educational achievements, and work proficiency compared to their parents, although there were still remaining differences compared to ethnic Dutch.

There is a controversy as to whether the US racial gap in IQ scores is diminishing. If that is the case then this may or may not be related to the Flynn effect. Rushton and Jensen argue against expecting the Flynn Effect to narrow the US black-white IQ gap, since they see that gap as mostly genetic in origin, and there is evidence from mathematical analyses that what causes the Flynn effect is different from what causes the black-white gap. Flynn has replied that he never claimed that the Flynn effect has the same causes as the black-white gap, but that it shows that environmental factors can create IQ differences of a magnitude similar to the gap.

The Flynn effect has also been part of the discussions regarding Spearman's hypothesis, which states that differences in the g factor are the major source of differences between blacks and whites observed in many studies of race and intelligence.