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Kirkegaard, E. O. W. (2019). Solid numbers, missed opportunities: Review of The intelligence of nations. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000181 ResearchGate
I was asked to review this new book written by David Becker and Richard Lynn. It’s the long work in progress that James Thompson has blogged about on numerous occasions. This book presents the latest revision of the IQs, their exact methods for calculation (open data and methods). As a new thing, the IQs are now continuously updated via David Becker’s website at https://viewoniq.org/. In fact, the numbers in the book are already slightly out of date. The new values are completely redone from scratch by Becker, using the original documents. Because not all sources have been found or incorporated yet, the new work is based on fewer datapoints than the previous work. On the continuum of comprehensiveness and quality, it’s further along towards quality.
Tables and figures from my review:
| Country | 1978 IQ | 1978 notes | 2019 IQ |
| United Kingdom | 100 | 99.12 | |
| United States | 100 | European descent | 97.43 |
| New Zealand | 98.5 | European descent | 98.57 |
| Australia | 95 | 99.24 | |
| Belgium | 104 | 97.49 | |
| France | 104 | 96.69 | |
| Germany | 100 | East Germany | 100.74 |
| Denmark | 100 | 97.83 | |
| Italy | 100 | Florence | 94.23 |
| Spain | 87 | 93.9 | |
| Croatia | 89 | Zagreb | 96.19 |
| Greece | 89 | Thessaloniki | 93.56 |
| Iraq | 80 | 89.28 | |
| Iran | 82 | 80.01 | |
| India | 86 | 76.24 | |
| Uganda | 84 | elite samples | 76.42 |
| Jamaica | 79 | 75.08 | |
| Tanzania | 88 | elite samples | 74.95 |
| Ghana | 75 | 58.16 | |
| South Africa | 78 | African descent | 68.87 |
| Taiwan | 100 | 106.47 | |
| Japan | 100 | 106.48 | |
| Indonesia | 96 | Bandung, elite | 78.49 |
1978 values are based on (Lynn, 1978), using medians to combine studies when needed. 2019 values are based on Lynn and Becker’s book.
