LiveScience

A simple visual test is surprisingly accurate at predicting IQ, according to new research.

The study, published today (May 23) in the journal Current Biology, found that people’s ability to efficiently filter out visual information in the background and focus on the foreground is strongly linked to IQ. The findings could help scientists identify the brain processes responsible for intelligence.

Here’s how junk science is done:

Step number one: Believe that IQ tests accurately assess every one. (They don’t. For example, highly intelligent people with ADD/ADHD are known to do poorly on them…)

Step number two: Notice that people who are not distracted easily and can focus on foreground objects in a video do better on IQ tests.

Step number three: Decide that people who are not distracted easily and can focus on foreground objects have higher intelligence.

All they are really testing is the probability of an IQ test producing or not producing an accurate read on the person…

For the 10,000th time, correlation does not prove caus…

SQUIRREL!!!!

🙂