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Putting the Flynn effect under the microscope: Item-level patterns in NLSYC PIAT-math scores, 1986–2004

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  • Rodgers, Joseph Lee
  • Wänström, Linda
  • Ang, Siew

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated the existence of a Flynn effect in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children (NLSYC) responses to the PIAT-Math instrument. The PIAT-Math is at least partially linked to fluid intelligence, whereas other scales in the NLSYC – PIAT-Reading Recognition, PIAT-Reading Comprehension, the PPVT, and Digit Span – are primarily based on crystallized intelligence; these scales showed little or no Flynn effect in the NLSYC. We put the 84 PIAT-Math items “under the microscope” by evaluating the Flynn effect in relation to each item, and measured the Flynn effect by computing a slope across birth-year cohorts, using nine different age replications. Following, we use expert ratings of the items on eight different features – visual matching, recall/memory, computation/estimation, spatial visualization, real-world reasoning, manipulation of geometry, solving algebra, and counting – to identify what features are important in producing the Flynn effect. The highest correlations obtain for the links between the Flynn effect and the features real-world reasoning, counting and computation/estimation. There is a negative correlation between item-level Flynn effects and the features manipulation of geometry, solving algebra, and recall/memory. These results support previous findings ephasizing the role that fluid intelligence plays in relation to the Flynn effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodgers, Joseph Lee & Wänström, Linda & Ang, Siew, 2025. "Putting the Flynn effect under the microscope: Item-level patterns in NLSYC PIAT-math scores, 1986–2004," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intell:v:109:y:2025:i:c:s0160289624000916
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2024.101897
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dworak, Elizabeth M. & Revelle, William & Condon, David M., 2023. "Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample: Examining shifts within the SAPA Project," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Oberleiter, Sandra & Fries, Jonathan & Dejardin, Florence & Heller, Johanna & Schaible, Christian & Vetter, Marco & Voracek, Martin & Pietschnig, Jakob, 2024. "Inconsistent Flynn effect patterns may be due to a decreasing positive manifold: Cohort-based measurement-invariant IQ test score changes from 2005 to 2024," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    3. Wongupparaj, Peera & Wongupparaj, Rangsirat & Morris, Robin G. & Kumari, Veena, 2023. "Seventy years, 1000 samples, and 300,000 SPM scores: A new meta-analysis of Flynn effect patterns," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    4. Rodgers, Joseph Lee, 2023. "Eleven articles and 27 authors pay tribute to James Flynn: A summary and critique of special issue articles on the Flynn effect," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Lazaridis, Alexandros & Vetter, Marco & Pietschnig, Jakob, 2022. "Domain-specificity of Flynn effects in the CHC-model: Stratum II test score changes in Germanophone samples (1996–2018)," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. O'Keefe, Patrick & Rodgers, Joseph Lee, 2020. "The Flynn effect can become embedded in tests: How cross-sectional age norms can corrupt longitudinal research," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Gonthier, Corentin & Grégoire, Jacques, 2022. "Flynn effects are biased by differential item functioning over time: A test using overlapping items in Wechsler scales," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    8. Rodgers, Joseph Lee & O'Keefe, Patrick, 2023. "A synthetic theory to integrate and explain the causes of the Flynn effect: The Parental Executive Model," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Gonthier, Corentin & Grégoire, Jacques & Besançon, Maud, 2021. "No negative Flynn effect in France: Why variations of intelligence should not be assessed using tests based on cultural knowledge," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
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