Historically, intelligence tests and large-scale assessments have shown that each new generation tends to outperform its parents in reasoning, problem-solving, and academic achievement, a trend known as the Flynn Effect. Recent evidence indicates that this upward trend has either slowed or reversed among Generation Z. This has raised concerns that today’s teenagers may score lower than their parents on key cognitive tests, prompting discussions about educational and social changes.
Researchers refer to this as the “reverse Flynn Effect.” This decline is fueling debates about cognitive development among young people. For instance, neuroscientist Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath expressed concerns during a January 2026 Senate hearing, noting that Generation Z now scores lower than Millennials and earlier generations in areas such as attention, memory, and academic performance. This trend highlights how digital technology, education, and societal shifts affect the minds of young people.
Understanding Generational Intelligence Trends
When researchers discuss intelligence, they typically refer to measurable abilities such as reasoning, problem-solving, working memory, and the capacity to learn new skills for adaptation. Psychologists and education specialists monitor these skills over time using standardised IQ tests and large-scale assessments like PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS. These assessments evaluate similar student groups across different ages over many decades. Higher scores among newer generations generally indicate improvements in factors like nutrition, education, health, and the overall complexity of daily life.
Throughout the 1900s, scientists frequently observed a steady increase in intelligence scores. In many wealthier nations, the average IQ rose by about 3 to 5 points per decade. Additionally, test results in reading, math, and science consistently improved. These trends were often attributed to factors such as improved prenatal care, reduced lead exposure, longer schooling, and richer cognitive environments, such as greater access to books and more complex jobs.
However, beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, studies from Scandinavia and Western Europe began to indicate that these gains had plateaued or even declined. This decline was particularly evident in tests administered to young men at military recruitment. Norwegian conscription data, for example, showed that IQ scores rose through the mid‑1970s then fell for cohorts born after about 1975, despite similar genetic backgrounds. Researchers interpret these shifts as evidence that environmental improvements can reach a ceiling and then reverse if new pressures or lifestyle changes emerge.
What Recent Data Reveal About Gen Z
Gen Z typically includes individuals born from approximately 1997 to 2012. Horvath’s testimony to the U.S. Senate shows that Gen Z scores lower than Millennials on many measures. Despite more time in school and greater access to digital information, Gen Z test scores have declined. He notes that this group is experiencing declines in fluid intelligence, working memory, and important academic skills compared to the previous generation. This challenges the long-standing expectation that children will typically outperform their parents, a pattern observed over the past century.
The decline in cognitive skills is still noticeable in U.S. data. A 2023 study analyzed IQ scores from large groups of American adults. It found declines in verbal and matrix reasoning from 2006 to 2018. The researchers also considered demographic factors. Similar trends appear in Norwegian and Danish conscription records, where individuals born after the mid-1990s generally score lower on ability tests compared to those born about ten years earlier. Although not all young people score lower than older individuals, the data shows teenagers today have slightly weaker skills when they reach adulthood. This is compared to their parents’ generation at the same age.
Large-Scale Assessments Tracking the Shift
The OECD administers the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which assesses 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science every 3 years across many countries. Recent PISA results indicate that math and reading scores have declined in many OECD countries, approaching levels from the early 2000s. These declines began before the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures, indicating that structural issues had already existed.
Other long-term assessments, such as the IEA’s PIRLS 2021 study, also report similar findings. This assessment showed a decline in fourth-grade reading scores in several countries relative to 2016, eroding previous gains in basic literacy. Additionally, PIRLS data indicate that frequent use of digital devices for schoolwork or leisure is associated with lower reading comprehension scores among children, even after controlling for socioeconomic factors. These overall findings support Horvath’s view that the claim that the current generation is “less intelligent than parents” reflects real, measurable declines in key skills, rather than merely a subjective opinion or media-driven panic.
At the same time, newer analyses caution that these patterns vary across countries and test domains. Some nations show stagnation rather than a clear decline, and certain abilities continue to rise even where others fall. This suggests that the reverse Flynn Effect does not move in a perfectly uniform way worldwide. Instead, local education systems, social conditions, and policy decisions can amplify or soften the trend, making careful country-by-country interpretation important.
How Digital Habits May Shape Cognitive Skills
During his Senate testimony, Horvath highlighted how digital technology sets Gen Z apart from previous generations. Teens in affluent countries spend numerous hours each day on smartphones, social media, streaming services, and gaming, often using their devices for both entertainment and academic purposes, which blurs the boundary between the two. As a result, screens dominate most of their waking hours. Horvath also emphasised that humans learn most effectively through face-to-face interaction, reading, and in-depth study. Yet, excessive screen time conditions the brain to skim information, seek constant novelty, and become more easily distracted.
Classroom studies provide valuable insights. According to the OECD report on students and digital devices, when used sparingly, devices can enhance learning. However, excessive daily screen time is often associated with lower reading and math performance. Students who frequently report being distracted by phones or classmates’ devices during lessons tend to score worse on assessments, even if they are not currently using the devices. This indicates that a highly digital classroom environment can split students’ attention, affecting all students rather than just heavy device users.
Screen Time, Attention, and Working Memory
Attention and working memory act as central “gateways” for many intellectual tasks, including reading, mathematics, and complex reasoning. Studies that track self‑reported or monitored screen time usually find that heavier use links with poorer sustained attention, more frequent task switching, and weaker academic outcomes, even when researchers control for factors such as family income and parental education. In school settings, students who multitask with messaging or social media during lessons tend to remember less of the material and perform worse on exams than peers who keep devices away.
Recent studies show declines in American IQ trends from 2006 to 2018, especially in verbal reasoning and matrix reasoning. These declines align with the rise of smartphones and online platforms. Researchers emphasize that correlation does not imply causation. However, the timing raises concerns that digital habits may influence the reverse Flynn Effect. Horvath describes these changes as a shift in the “cognitive environment.” He suggests that constant digital stimulation could weaken skills built through traditional schooling and complex work.
Not all digital engagement is harmful to our thinking. In fact, studies on adolescent technology use show some wonderful benefits, like better visual-spatial skills, quicker information searching, and new ways to create and work together. Certain games and digital tools seem to help develop skills like strategic planning and cognitive flexibility. The key challenge, researchers say, is telling apart intentional, skill-building use from unstructured overuse that can spread our attention too thin across many tasks.
Are Gen Z Really Less Intelligent Than Their Parents?
Claiming that Gen Z is less intelligent than older generations oversimplifies the situation. Standardized tests only measure a narrow aspect of intelligence, such as creativity, social skills, and practical problem-solving. Many experts argue that rather than declining, Gen Z’s skills have advanced. They demonstrate remarkable proficiency in digital literacy, sourcing information through crowdsourcing, and leveraging online platforms, often outperforming older groups.
Critics of the “kids are getting dumber” idea point out that shifts in curricula, assessment styles, and student motivation can impact test scores over time. They also highlight that many Gen Z students experience higher anxiety, economic worries, and social pressures than earlier generations, which can influence their performance without actually indicating a decrease in their true potential. While these points do not dismiss the fact that measured performance has declined, they remind us to interpret these trends wisely and to separate what test scores show from broader claims about natural intelligence.
Other Factors That Influence Generational Intelligence
Digital exposure is a major suspect, but it is not the only factor that may contribute to the reverse Flynn Effect. Earlier gains in IQ likely benefited from large public health improvements, such as reduced lead exposure, better prenatal care, and improved early childhood nutrition, which raised the cognitive “floor” for many children. If these advantages plateau, or if inequalities in environmental toxins and access to nutrition increase again, they can dampen or reverse previous gains.
Changes in education and parenting styles may influence generational trends. Some experts suggest that more structured routines, less outdoor free play, and fewer chances for unstructured problem-solving can impair the development of executive functions such as planning and self-control. Increasing mental health issues among teens, like anxiety and depression, may also decrease the energy and focus they can dedicate to challenging cognitive tasks, especially with constant digital distractions. These overlapping factors make it hard to identify a single cause but highlight the need for a supportive, cognitively enriching environment for each new generation.
Practical Steps for Families and Schools
While large-scale trends largely rest with policymakers, families and schools can still implement concrete changes to support stronger cognitive development among young people now. For classrooms, experts recommend using digital tools sparingly and purposefully, rather than as default platforms for every subject and activity. Paper-based reading, extended writing tasks, and face-to-face discussion remain strongly linked to deeper comprehension and better long-term retention, especially for complex material that demands sustained attention.
Horvath and other researchers urge schools to demand robust, independent evidence that any new EdTech product improves learning before adopting it widely. They also encourage teachers to establish clear boundaries around phones and non‑essential apps during lessons, which can reduce distraction not only for individual users but for entire classes. For parents, simple steps such as creating device‑free times, encouraging regular reading of physical books, and supporting hobbies that involve focused practice can help strengthen attention and working memory outside school hours.
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Rethinking Progress Across Generations
For over a century, rising IQ scores bolstered the belief that each new generation of children entered life with slightly better cognitive abilities than their predecessors. However, the emerging reverse Flynn Effect questions this view by indicating that environmental factors can reduce average performance as well as enhance it. Whether Generation Z becomes the first to be genuinely less intelligent than their parents will depend on how societies respond to new signals seen in test results, classrooms, and clinical observations.
Intelligence is not fixed at birth. The same capacity for improvement can support recovery, provided that families, schools, and policymakers act on the evidence. To help future generations catch up on lost skills, we should reduce digital distractions, improve early childhood settings, and reintroduce powerful methods such as deep reading and personalized, in-person instruction. These findings do not merely label one generation as “less intelligent”; they also challenge us to rethink how we design environments that influence young minds.
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