Replicable genetic variants influencing school, and IQ
The social science genetics consortium has been working to uncover the genes associated with educational attainment. First, in 2013, with 127,000 subjects, they were able to produce a polygenic risk score (PRS) explaining 2% variance in total years of education.
This doubled to 4% once they had convinced collaborators to contribute data from 329,000 subjects in a great paper by Okbay et al. reported on by The Atlantic as well as in Nature :-).
Comfortingly, this PRS replicated in the open UKBiobank sample of 100,000 adults.
Now grad-student Saskia Selzam working in the ...
Why are we getting smarter (BBC)
The BBC radio show The Why Factor asks "Why are we getting smarter".
This in-depth (18-minute) show features interviews with ISIR members Professor Jim Flynn and Dr Michael Woodley.
What is intelligence?
CUP are hosting a "virtual round table" on intelligence... Two great interactions so far between three leading members of ISIR: Rich Haier, Bob Sternberg, and Jim Flynn
What is intelligence? Can brain biology help explain IQ?
the ultimate goal of all intelligence research is to understand how to increase intelligence
ISIR President Earl B Hunt: 1933-2016
Professor Earl "Buz" Hunt passed away peacefully early on April 13.
His wife, Mary Lou, passed on this sad information for us:
Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues of Buz Hunt:
Early this morning my husband and best friend, Earl "Buz" Hunt died peacefully in his sleep. He left this world snuggled next to me just as he has for the past 61 years of our marriage Buz was a brilliant scientist, devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend to many. He inspired all who knew him, gave much more than he took in life and leaves a legacy that will live on through his children, ...
Ruben Arslan: 2015 John B. Carroll Award for Methodology
Ruben Arslan
Biosketch:
Ruben was born in Aachen, Germany, and studied psychology at Humboldt University Berlin. He is now working toward a PhD at the Georg August University Göttingen in the Biological Personality Lab with Lars Penke.
His research interests have an evolutionary angle on individual differences in common. He has studied paternal age effects on intelligence, personality, mortality and fertility. He hopes to gain an understanding of mutational influences on individual differences and by extension the genetic architecture of traits such as intelligence....
