Can People Become Less Intelligent? Study Explores Reverse Flynn Effect

For a long time, people got better and better at puzzles that measure how well they can think, and scientists called this the Flynn Effect.

Lately, researchers have noticed that in some countries, people are not doing as well on those puzzles as before.

This change is called the Reverse Flynn Effect.

The scientists do not think people are actually getting less smart.

They believe things like changes in schools, more time on screens, reading less, and some families having harder lives may affect the scores.

These puzzles only test a few skills, like memory and solving problems, not creativity or how well someone understands feelings.

Not every country is seeing a drop, and some places still have steady or improving scores.

Scientists want to do more studies to figure out why this is happening.

They hope that better education and healthier childhoods can help people think well in the future.