The Mensa Workout--How it Helps us Understand How to Improve IQ

Try the following examples from Mensa's IQlook at the bottom right corner line. Next square
workout, which can be found on the Mensathere are two lines in the top left, next box there
International website, or by Googling ‘Mensaare three lines bottom right, next box four lines
workout’.top left, then five bottom right. So the next has
to be? Six lines top left. Only a and c show this.
This type of problem - finding abstract relationsFrom before, we know that it can't be a. So we
and rules in the elements of geometrical shapescan conclude right there - without even looking at
- is the most valid way of measuring fluidthe other lines in the box, that the answer is c.
intelligence: our ability to reason and problem solveTo solve this kind of problem we need to use
in new situations where we cannot rely onwhat cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists
previous experience or knowledge. The cognitivecalled 'executive processes'. With executive
skills needed to solve these types of problems liesprocesses we can't rely on an automatic
at the core of our general intelligence – ourresponse based on past experience to solve a
general cognitive ability.problem - we have to reason it through with full
Fluid intelligence can be thought of as our rawattention.
brain power or information processing efficiency.Elements of executive processes
We can invest our fluid intelligence into acquiring- We have to selectively attend to some
specific areas of knowledge and expertise, in thisinformation and ignore distracting information.
way building up our store of ‘crystallized- We have to hold items of information in short
intelligence’. But what takes someone with aterm memory (what is known as 'working'
lot of fluid intelligence just one month to learnmemory').
might take someone with less fluid intelligence six- We have to do mental operations on the
months to learn.  And when someone with a lotinformation  (e.g. 'add one') and update the
of crystallized intelligence but not much fluidinformation we are attending to as we are
intelligence is confronted with a new situation theyworking through the problem.
are unfamiliar with, they will find it difficult to know- We also have to break the problem down into
what to do. Someone with more fluid intelligencesub-tasks  and be strategic with our effort in
will find this kind of situation easier to deal with. Sodifferent sub tasks. For  instance, there was
fluid intelligence is closer to what we mean byanother sub-task we could have done - looking at
being ‘smart’ – to real brain power.the other set of lines - but we didn't have to look
What IQ tests measure—both brain power andat them. This involves monitoring how we're doing
what we knowon the task by observing how our own mental
Fluid intelligence is measured on IQ tests byprocesses work.
reasoning and geometrical problems like the twoAll these cognitive skills are the elements of
above.  Crystallized intelligence is measured on IQexecutive processes. They lie at the heart of the
tests by vocabulary, arithmetic and general‘brain power’ aspect of what IQ tests
knowledge sub-tests. These test skills you havemeasure. If a person  is good at  doing these
learned over time – that have becomethings, the have more brain power.  And they will
‘crystallized’. Your overall IQ is yourdo well on the fluid intelligence sections of an IQ
combined fluid and crystallized intelligence scores.test.
There is generally a positive association betweenThe very good news is that our IQ can be
fluid and crystallized intelligence scores. Someoneincreased  not only by improving our crystallized
who score high on fluid intelligence typically (butintelligence  (by practising arithmetic for instance),
not always) scores high on crystallized intelligence.but also by training our executive processes. By
Why? Because if you have a lot of brain powertraining our executive processes we actually
(fluid intelligence), during your education you willincrease our fluid intelligence and brain power. We
tend to absorb knowledge (like vocabulary) andbecome ‘smarter’ in the most basic
skills (like mental arithmetic) more efficiently thansense – better able to process any kind of
someone who has less brain power.information, and solve any kind of problem, not
How can we improve our IQ? Two strategiesjust ones we have prior knowledge about in a
We can figure out from what I’ve alreadycrystallized form. We can score higher on IQ
said that there are two strategies for improvingtests by this kind of brain training without building
our IQ. We can either build up our knowledge andon our store of crystallized intelligence.
skills (crystallized intelligence) or we can increaseHow improve IQ by training our executive
our brain power – our information processingprocesses
capacity and efficiency (fluid intelligence). If youIn 2008 brain scientists at the University of Bern
train your arithmetic and your vocabulary you willin Switzerland and the University of Michigan in the
score higher on an IQ test.  This is because yourStates, demonstrated that training on a carefully
crystallized intelligence has increased. But in doingdesigned exercise that directly trains these
this your brain power won’t change. Youworking memory elements,  resulted in an
won’t get a better score on an intelligenceincredible 40% gain in fluid intelligence as
test that is designed to measure just your brainmeasured by a version of the time
power.limited Raven’s Advanced Progressive
Why do these Mensa Workout problems help usMatrices test - one of the most valid and highly
understand what is needed to improve IQ byregarded IQ tests for fluid intelligence.
increasing brain power?You can find a downloadable version of this
Solving these problems depends on the sameexercise and more information on the original
cognitive skill set that is needed for any thinkingstudy at this website. With this software you can
or problem solving that requires brain power -expect that in 19 days of training, half an hour
from figuring out how to fix the TV, to evaluatingper day, your brain power or fluid intelligence will
a political argument, to solving a computer codingincrease by 40%. Studies have not been done to
problem. Anything that requires us to betell us exactly how long these changes last, but
‘smart’ – and that does not dependthere is evidence for real, long-term changes in
on any crystallized intelligence,  any priorthe brain. By doing this training, the connections
knowledge.between neurons (brain cells) in your prefrontal
What are the elements of this skill set? Answer:cortex actually increase in number. The prefrontal
executive cognitive processescortex is the brain centre that underlies our brain
To help us understand the elements of this skillpower – our fluid intelligence. This kind of
set, take question 26 in the Mensa workout.change in brain circuitry is called brain plasticity or
Notice the line in the bottom left corner andneuroplasticity. This executive process brain
ignore the other stuff; in the next square it's intraining is the only exercise that is available on the
the top right corner, then it's back to the bottomInternet that has been scientifically demonstrated
left, then up again to the top right and so on.to increase brain power.
There's a pattern. So you can reason that theIncreasing your brainpower is a liberating
answer has to be b or c. Hold that in mind. Nowexperience.  Try it!