children – Jason Hensel

Do you think people who drink more alcohol would be more or less intelligent — generally speaking? Recent research cited in a Discovery News article caught my eye with the title “Why Intelligent People Drink More Alcohol.” Any correlation of brain chemistry or intelligence and alcohol has been a concern ever since I was told: “Alcohol kills brain cells.” Data from the National Child Development Study in the United Kingdom and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States found that more intelligent individuals (IQ measured in childhood) ended up drinking alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities than “duller” children. From the study:

“Very dull” Add Health respondents (with childhood IQ < 75) engage in binge drinking less than once a year. In sharp contrast, “very bright” Add Health respondents (with childhood IQ > 125) engage in binge drinking roughly once every other month.

The association between childhood intelligence and adult frequency of getting drunk is equally clear and monotonic. . . . “Very dull” Add Health respondents almost never get drunk, whereas “very bright” Add Health respondents get drunk once every other month or so.

Both studies followed children and found that the more intelligent individuals drank more as adults. Theories abound as to what these findings mean. Is it..Evolution? Economics? Social forces? An intersection of one or a few factors?

What conclusions can you draw?

(Story materials [study citation] found in Psychology Today. Image via Flickr: Wayan Vota / Creative Commons.)

Send to Kindle

Children who watch fantasy films, such as Harry Potter, have better imagination and creativity skills, according to research out of Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. The study is the first of its kind to link magical thinking and creativity in preschool children.

Researchers studied two groups of four- to six-year-old children, showing them two 15-minute clips from Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.

The findings show that, after watching the clips, the group who watched the magical scenes scored “significantly better” in creativity tests than children in the other group who watched scenes without magic in them. The creativity tests included the children being asked to pretend they were rabbits or driving a car and quizzed on different ways of putting plastic cups in a bin and alternative uses for the cups.

“Magical thinking [believing in supernatural events] enables children to create fantastic imaginary worlds, and in this way enhances children’s capacity to view the world and act upon it from multiple perspectives,” the researchers said. “The results suggested that books and videos about magic might serve to expand children’s imagination and help them to think more creatively.”

I’m curious if this research extends to adults. Do grown-ups who prefer to watch Game of Thrones or True Blood exhibit increased imagination more so than those who enjoy Mad Men or Breaking Bad? Also, how does magical thinking as a child shape your adult life when you have to live in the “real world”?

Send to Kindle

Jason Hensel

Intelligent People Drink More?

Fantasy Films Increase Child Creativity