Title |
Brain size and cognitive ability: Correlations with age, sex, social class, and race
|
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Published in |
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, March 1996
|
DOI | 10.3758/bf03210739 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
J. Philippe Rushton, C. Davison Ankney |
Abstract |
Using data from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), autopsy, endocranial measurements, and other techniques, we show that (1) brain size is correlated with cognitive ability about .44 using MRI; (2) brain size varies by age, sex, social class, and race; and (3) cognitive ability varies by age, sex, social class, and race. Brain size and cognitive ability show a curvilinear relation with age, increasing to young adulthood and then decreasing; increasing from women to men; increasing with socioeconomic status; and increasing from Africans to Europeans to Asians. Although only further research can determine if such correlations represent cause and effect, it is clear that the direction of the brain-size/cognitive-ability relationships described by Paul Broca (1824-1880), Francis Galton (1822-1911), and other nineteenth-century visionaries is true, and that the null hypothesis of no relation, strongly advocated over the last half century, is false. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Ireland | 1 | 11% |
United Arab Emirates | 1 | 11% |
Sierra Leone | 1 | 11% |
Brazil | 1 | 11% |
Australia | 1 | 11% |
Unknown | 4 | 44% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 9 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 6 | 4% |
United Kingdom | 5 | 3% |
Hong Kong | 1 | <1% |
South Africa | 1 | <1% |
Indonesia | 1 | <1% |
Germany | 1 | <1% |
Finland | 1 | <1% |
Mexico | 1 | <1% |
Poland | 1 | <1% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 128 | 88% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 28 | 19% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 27 | 18% |
Student > Master | 21 | 14% |
Researcher | 20 | 14% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 9 | 6% |
Other | 27 | 18% |
Unknown | 14 | 10% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 40 | 27% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 21 | 14% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 17 | 12% |
Social Sciences | 11 | 8% |
Engineering | 7 | 5% |
Other | 30 | 21% |
Unknown | 20 | 14% |