Evidências do efeito Flynn em crianças escolares de Belo Horizonte

Abstract

The Flynn effect refers to the cognitive gains of the population and it is observed by the better performance of the current generation on intelligence tests when compared to previous ones. This study is part of a larger research project initiated in 2002 by the Individual Differences Evaluation Laboratory (LADI-UFMG) and aimed to verify the evidence of this phenomenon in schoolchildren of Belo Horizonte. The total sample consisted of 349 children aged between seven and nine years old, divided into two groups, the first evaluated in 2002 (n=223) and the second in 2014 (n=126). Both groups were assessed with the same intelligence measurement instruments: the test Raven Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) and the verbal scale of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Parents provided information on socioeconomic aspects of the family. From the linear regression analysis was possible to identify that the years of schooling exerted considerable influence on the results of the verbal scale of the WISC-III, but the same did not happen with the CPM. This predictive variable was able to explain up to 18.9% of the variance in the results of the WISC-III. For CPM socioeconomic classification of families was more important as a predictor variable. The performance of the two groups were compared and it was found that children assessed in 2014 showed better results, except in subtests Information, Arithmetic and Digits Span, which showed decline. In general, this group showed an increase in average in both instruments and in all age groups. Although not all increases have been shown to be statistically significant, evidence indicated the occurrence of the Flynn effect on children in the state capital, as the results showed that there is a tendency to cognitive gains. However, further studies are needed with larger samples and a longer interval between two evaluations.