ladygenie
Date:
2008-11-04
Time: 21:43:29
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you, that they're smarter than you?
Show them this little item!! 
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Clever teenagers of today are not as bright
as kids in the class of 1976, according to
researchers.
The intellect of even the brainiest
14-year-olds has deteriorated dramatically
over the decades despite an increase in the
number of pupils achieving top grades in
exams.
Their cognitive abilities are level with
those of 12-year-olds in 1976, the study
found.
Researchers at King's College London compared
the mental agility of 800 bright 13 and
14-year-olds with similar tests carried out
some three decades ago.
The tests - designed to assess grasp of
abstract scientific concepts such as volume,
density, quantity and weight - found far
fewer youngsters hit top scores than in
1976.
In one test, average achievement remained
roughly the same as in 1976.
But only just over one in ten pupils were
able to demonstrate a "higher level of
thinking" compared to one in four in 1976.
In a test to measure mathematical abilities,
only one in 20 of today's teenagers were top
scorers, down from one in five in 1976.
Professor Michael Shayer, who led the study,
said the brainpower slump may be down to
over-testing in schools.
He said: "The moment you introduce targets,
people will find the most economical
strategies to achieve them.
"In the case of education, I'm sure this has
had an effect on driving schools away from
developing higher levels of understanding."
In previous research, Professor Shayer
concluded that the cognitive abilities of
11-year-olds were up to three years behind
where they were in 1975.
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