As research warns IQ is falling for first time EVER…. our map reveals average scores in every US state

Research shows that human intelligence scores in the US are falling for the first time, and experts warn that technology could be to blame.

IQ exams were first introduced in 1905, and over the century there was a 30-point increase based on scores in logic, vocabulary, spatial reasoning, and visual and mathematical problem-solving skills.

The average IQ score in the US is currently 98, and the average rating was 100 until last year, but the rankings vary by about eight points between states, with New Hampshire ranking first with an average IQ of 103.2.

More research needs to be done to determine why IQ scores are falling across the country, but one expert speculated that a decline in reading enjoyment and an increase in media entertainment, such as YouTube, are to blame.

There are also concerns that phones are affecting our memory and recall by reducing the need to store information with Google at our fingertips.

Exactly half of US states have an average IQ of 100 or higher, with New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Vermont in the top four, while North Dakota and Wyoming come in fifth.

Meanwhile, those in the bottom five, according to New Mexico, include Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Nevada Overview of the world population.

“I suspect that the increasing use of technology could play a role in influencing the overall literacy level of our country,” Dr. Stefan Dombrowski, a psychology professor at Rider University who studies IQ, told DailyMail.com.

‘It is known that people who read and write more generally score higher on IQ tests. This is of course a chicken and egg scenario,” he continued.

“Are these individuals doing more reading and writing because they are smarter, or are they getting smarter… on IQ tests because they are reading more?”

Dombrowski said this second question is known as the “Matthew Effect,” where a good reader will choose to continue reading more and therefore become better read, while poor readers will fall behind.

Researchers have also suggested that American IQ began to decline around the turn of the millennium as people adopted more technology into their daily lives, which has only increased in recent years.

“People just aren’t as into reading as they used to be,” Dombrowski said.

“They have YouTube and other media sources to access information, and those same media are now a source of entertainment, whereas in the past books and other forms of literacy, such as writing, played a greater entertainment role.”

The Flynn Effect is the idea that IQ scores increase over time, as shown above

Hetty Roessingh, professor emeritus of education at the University of Calgary, previously told DailyMail.com that children as young as five are not meeting academic standards because digital devices have become so accessible.

“There is a level of academic underachievement, where students are underprepared for college,” Roessingh said.

She added that digital devices act as an “academic time shift,” meaning the time children spend on technology takes away time that could be better spent on activities that increase their intelligence levels.

According to Dombrowski, the jump in IQ in the twentieth century could have occurred because education, healthcare and nutrition in the US improved at that time, causing the so-called ‘Flynn effect’.

The Flynn effect means that although IQ test scores had risen by about five points per decade, if the same person took an intelligence test today, he would likely score about 15 points lower.

“Children who scored on the ‘gifted’ scale 30 years ago would not have the same classification by today’s standards, while those who scored in the lower range might score in the mentally retarded range in 2024,” Dombrowski said.

The average level at which a person should be intellectual is a score of 100, and for comparison, a person with an IQ between 115 and 130 is considered ‘gifted’, while anyone with an IQ between 130 and 145 is labeled a genius .

But Dombrowski said IQ tests are not necessarily indicative of a person’s true intelligence level because they only look at occupational and academic success.

Tests should also focus on emotional IQ levels, which “could be an even more important part,” he said, adding that it “often leads to success in life.”

Higher IQ levels tend to be correlated with happiness and some literature indicates that more intelligent people are also happier, but Dombrowski pointed out that this is not always the case.

“There are exceptions,” he said. ‘The gifted often have psychological problems. Think of the main character in the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind’, who was an eminent mathematician but struggled with schizophrenia.

‘Think also of the late Robin Williams, a comedy genius, but who suffered from bipolar disorder.

“In fact,” he added, “eminent giftedness seems to come at a price.”