Abstract
In 1940 Raymond B. Cattell reported that parents with higher IQ scores were inclined to have smaller families than those with lower measured intelligence. He indicated that the differential birth rate with regard to intelligence would, in time, result in a lower IQ in the general population. This finding supported earlier observations by Lentz (1927) and Mailer (1933), among others, of an inverse relationship between family size and test performance. According to Cattell, the rate of decline in the United States and Great Britain was between 1.0 and 1.5 points per decade. Confirmation of Cattell’s findings was presented by Burt in 1946 with a warning that the rate of decline in the English population was between 1.3 and 2.5 points per generation.
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Falek, A. (1973). Differential Fertility and Intelligence: Current Status of the Problem. In: The Measurement of Intelligence. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6129-9_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6129-9_24
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