Please read on as there is a cat in this article 😉 .
Testing braininess is a tricky business but here are some clues that a person might be relatively brainy:
1. He/she took music lessons. Learning music as a kid boosts brain power. Or it enhances the braininess of an already brainy person.
2. Amongst siblings the oldest has a slight edge on IQ – 103 compared to 100. This is due to the “psychological interplay of parents and children”.
3. The bigger the waistline the lower the cognitive ability according to a 2006 study. This may be because smarter people are in a better position vis-a-vis lifestyle to look after their health. Although amongst preschooler a higher BMI is linked to a lower IQ.
4. YOU HAVE A CAT. YIPPEE… A study conducted in 2014 of 600 college students found that “cat people” scored higher in the part of the test concerning cognitive ability.
5. The child was breastfed. A 2007 study concluded that breastfed babies might grow up to be smarter. Breastfed children scored 7 points higher in an IQ test if they had “a particular version of the FADS2 gene” (Fatty acid desaturase 2).
6. If you are using illegal drugs as an adult you were probably a smart child so says a 2012 study in the UK.
“In our large population-based cohort study, IQ at 11 years was associated with a greater likelihood of using selected illegal drugs 31 years later,” wrote researchers James W. White, Catharine R. Gale, and David Batty.
“a high childhood IQ may prompt the adoption of behaviors that are potentially harmful to health….”
7. Left-handedness in men is linked to a type of creative thinking called “divergent thinking” – creative thinking.
“The more marked the left-handed preference in a group of males, the better they were at tests of divergent thought.” (New Yorker reporter Maria Konnikova).
8. A 2008 American study found that taller people scored higher in IQ tests as children. They went on to earn more as adults… “taller children perform significantly better at cognitive tests..”.
9. Kids and teenagers who scored higher than average on IQ tests ended up drinking more alcohol in adulthood than individuals who scored lower in the IQ tests.
10. You are a liberal when it comes to political views. American kids who scored higher on IQ tests ended up being more politically liberal.
11. If you learned to read early you are more likely to score higher on cognitive ability tests. Reading from an early age improves verbal and nonverbal ability.
12. Anxious people tend to be smarter than others. They ruminate more. This is probably because they can see the problems!
13. Smarter students were funnier than others in a study of 400 psychology students.
Source: The Independent.
MeOw
Let’s see, when I was in elementary school I had the vocabulary of a high school senior. That much is true. I’ve never read Tolstoy but when I was a kid I read books that would have made my mom blush. I never told her about those. Since I have a hard enough time taking prescription drugs I’ve never done street drugs. I scored pretty high on IQ tests and I am a liberal on most issues. Took choir in school, liked art and English better. I have no idea if I was breastfed but when I moved out of my Mom’s house the first thing I did was adopt a cat.
50% qualifies you as smart. Well done 😉