Declining IQ Scores and Cognitive Skills in Gen Z Explained

Is GenZ dumb? For almost a century, researchers saw a gradual increase in IQ scores across the entire globe at a rate of about three points per decade. But now, this trend is not only plateaued, it's begun to fall in the other direction. On top of this, we now have empirical evidence showing declines in literacy and numeracy, attention spans, memory, and executive functioning in young people, despite the fact that they go to more school than ever in history. So, is this a cognitive impairment? Like, are young people's brains inferior, or is technology and now things like AI making them stupider?

Just so we're on the same page, here is a breakdown of generally accepted birth years for each generation, with GenZ being around 1997 to 2012, and Gen Alpha being after that. For the record, I'm a millennial, so that may bias me towards thinking we're the smartest generation ever. But let's start with the IQ scores. The trend of increasing scores since the 1930s is known as the Flynn effect, named after the researcher James Flynn. He basically noticed that every time a new generation took an older test, they scored significantly higher. I think we all know IQ scores are flawed and only really measure a very specific kind of abstract problem-solving ability, but it's still interesting to

see a global trend with rising IQs over the years, only to suddenly reverse. One of the most interesting hypotheses for why this has occurred, though, is not really about intelligence, but rather each generation's environment. Over the years, we've not only increased access to schooling, but we've also improved childhood nutrition, reduced exposure to heavy metals like lead, and minimized the impact of infections and diseases. And this quality of life improvement correlates perfectly with the IQ gains. This hypothesis is further supported by the fact that while we see a stall or decline in IQ growth for industrialized nations, many countries that are coming out of poverty are now seeing large and

fast increases in IQ, similar to what we once did. So, those previous gains were likely lifting the floor of our average IQ. But then why did it start going down instead of just plateauing? To be fair to Gen Z, this downward trend actually started with millennials. But some countries noticed this decline even earlier. Norway, for example, tracked hundreds of thousands of young military men for decades and noticed IQ peaked for those born in the 70s, who would have taken the test in the early 90s, and then steadily declined by around two and a half points per decade. But this downward trend has continued into recent years even based on US data. However, recent studies that actually looked more

closely and broke down the data further show that Gen Z's actually increasing in certain subtypes of IQ, specifically those related to visual tests. Scientists suggest this is because we live in an increasingly visual world from photos to movies and TV to video games and computers. Each generation has been exposed to more complex imagery, which may help explain why we become better with visual tests. So while the overall Flynn effect shows a decrease, if you look at specific skills like spatial reasoning, you can see a slightly different story for Gen Z. But the thing is, it's not just IQ scores

that are suffering. Other major tests like the Program for International Student Assessment, which is a global test administered every three years, has seen massive declines in performance since the 2000s. And even the average SAT and ACT scores in the US have hit multi-decade lows. So it's worth looking into the other metrics being called out too, like memory and attention span, because there is unfortunately truth to Gen Z performing worse than previous generations in these categories, too. And a lot of it has to do with brain rot, by which we mean cognitive exhaustion from over-consuming low-quality short-form videos at a rapid pace. Studies show this kind of consumption disrupts executive

functioning, focus maintenance, and working memory capacity. Basically, the constant switching drains the mental fuel that would otherwise be needed for deep sequential logical reasoning, making it harder for anyone, not just Gen Z. But the difference with Gen Z and Gen Alpha is that their brains have been developing with this kind of content, whereas many older generations have already solidified their capacity for longer bouts of attention. They grew up in environments with long-form media, reading, and low-distraction environments comparatively. But that's not to say this stuff doesn't impact older generations, too. Studies show that global attention spans have decreased across all age groups, but it

seems easier for older generations to get back to having better focus if they minimize their brain rot. Deep reading, specifically, has been shown to help crystallized intelligence, which is like the ability to apply previously learned things to new problems. And studies show that Gen Z does not engage nearly as much in this form of focus. There's also something called cognitive offloading, which happens much more thanks to smartphones. Nowadays, you don't need to memorize directions or a map layout because you can almost always pull out your phone. You have no need to remember a lot of facts because you can simply Google the answer on the spot. In fact, some researchers call it the Google

effect, and it impacts all age groups, too. We tend to forget information that we know we can access easily. Ultimately, when the brain doesn't practice retaining data, we see scores drop for working memory on standardized tests. But perhaps the biggest question is, why should we care about standardized tests? Sure, they're a metric to go by, but maybe they're testing irrelevant skills for today's world. I mean, I understand why memorizing map routes may improve elements of my memory, of course, but maybe by not needing to do that, we can focus our attention and intelligence in other domains. And that does seem to be the case. Research shows that it's not about how well Gen Z's brains work.

There isn't like some genetic regression happening, but it's what their brains are good at that's changing. They have greater strengths in spatial awareness, as mentioned earlier, but also rapid information filtering, technological and media literacy, and parallel processing capabilities. All things that traditional cognitive tests fail to capture. On top of this, even our school systems have moved away from simple memorization towards collaborative learning, practical problem-solving, and digital literacy, things that are much more relevant to today's world. So, even if Gen Z performs worse on a '90s vocab test, they'll likely outperform an old millennial like me in many modern capabilities. So, while some of the

changes and decreases for Gen Z are very real and worth continued evaluation, I think all generations would agree that our ability to think and focus are severely hampered and hijacked, and we should all be working towards fixing that. It's also worth remembering that the world changes, and with it, the types of intelligence that we value or need change, too. Standardized IQ tests were built to measure the mental skills required by the industrial and early bureaucratic eras. Gen Z isn't dumber. Their cognitive resources are just being reallocated. Now, if you want to know the full extent of how Brain Raw and the internet are affecting your brain and capacity for intelligence, and what you

can actually do about it, whether you're a Gen Z or a boomer, we've done a whole deep dive of all the research that exists over on our podcast channel. You can click over to that video here or using the link in our description on our Side Note podcast channel, or if you prefer to just listen, it's on all the audio apps. Just search for Side Note podcast by AsapSCIENCE. Thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you ASAP for some more science. Peace.