Studies are now showing that a high IQ may be linked to how we
process information.
Here's the question: Is there a single way to predict whether
someone has a high IQ or not?
The answer: Maybe.
According to a new study
in the Journal Current Biology, high IQ is correlated with an ability to
process important information while ignoring the unimportant distractions.
In the movie "For the love of the game" Kevin Costner has to drown out all the
distractions as he attempts to pitch a no hit game for his farewell performance
in the big leagues. His strategy was to blur out all the visual and auditory
distractions by creating a focused strategy. He would say to himself "clear
the mechanism," and he would have a much clearer focus on the task at
hand. Having a strategy to regain your focus can increase your memory,
cognitive skills and reduce stress. Each level of the brain often overrides the
other based on prior experiences if you let it just remain on auto pilot.
Many scientists have suggested that high IQ is linked to
processing speed, or how quickly and accurately a person can understand
incoming information. This information can come from a wide range of sensory
inputs, including sounds, sights, and physical sensations. Responding to a tap
on your shoulder or computing a difficult math problem both rely on processing
speed, among other cognitive abilities. The problem in today's lifestyle is we
have more potential distractions from texts, cell phones, 24 hour world news
and the rapid pace of our world than ever before.
The University of Rochester had researchers conduct a study
searching to find what if the ability to ignore certain information is just as
important as the speed it takes to process it internally.
Researchers first set out the determine how quickly the study’s 53 participants processed different types of visual information.
A series of shapes passed across a screen, and participants were asked to
identify how the shapes had moved —
for example top-to-bottom or left-to-right. The shapes could be large or
small.
Counter intuitively, participants generally took longer to
process large shapes than small shapes. This phenomenon, called spatial
suppression, originates from a natural instinct to pay less attention to large
background movements —
like ignoring the lion on the horizon to focus on the lion in front of
you.
Each participant received a Suppression Index score (SI) based on
the difference between their response time to the small moving shape compared
to the large moving shape.
Participants also took a version of the Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Scale (WAIS), one of the most extensively studied IQ tests in
existence.
Analysis revealed a strong correlation between IQ score and SI
score — meaning
that people with higher IQs were better at processing small movements and worse
at processing large movements. Learning how to use all 4 levels of the brain
teaches you how to attain selective focus on what is most important.
This study’s findings make plenty of sense in real-world scenarios: most of the time,
the environment rewards a myopic focus. When you drive, it’s
the cars and pedestrians close by that command the bulk of your attention.
Events happening in the background such as buildings you pass, objects on
the side of the road, people moving on the sidewalk all become secondary.
The brain is complex and sometimes perplexing, so it’s always gratifying to see researchers begin to understand one of
its most important mysteries and how our focus can affect our intelligence
quotient.
Better Brain tip
Next time you’re out in the world, pause for a moment and see
if you find yourself relying on a specific sense more than others.
Stop and look around to see first what feels most important to
pay attention to...then broaden your senses to also see a bigger picture of your
surroundings.
Both of these actions are
important to create a better balance between the 4 levels of the brain and
avoiding getting stuck in a sensory pattern.
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