German school children’s IQ suffered ‘remarkably large’ drop over lockdown

GERMAN children’s intelligence levels underwent a “remarkably large” drop when schools were shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, a study has shown.

The research, conducted by the University of Trier, compared IQ scores received during autumn 2020 with testing done in 2002 and 2012.

The scores showed a drop in intelligence levels compared with both years, with the average score falling to 105 in 2020, compared with 112 in 2002.

The results suggest that the lack of teaching in classrooms during lockdowns “had an impact not only on children’s learning but also on their intelligence test performance,” Moritz Breit, the lead researcher, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.

However, the results do not prove a direct link between lockdowns and a drop in intelligence among schoolchildren.

“Our study can provide an indication, but since the pandemic hit us very suddenly, the study design is, of course, not optimal. So it doesn’t allow any causal statements,” Mr Breit said.

Factors resulting from the pandemic such as stress, anxiety and social isolation could have caused the children to perform below their usual standards, the researcher cautioned. Follow-up testing a year later showed no improvement in scores.

Researchers tested 400 children from German grammar schools aged between 13 and 15.

The results break with the so-called Flynn effect whereby IQ scores have improved from generation to generation, possibly due to factors such as better nutrition and schooling standards.

While the Flynn effect has been less evident in recent years and gone into reverse in some countries, the study’s authors said that the big drop in scores in 2020 could not be explained by a general reversal of the trend.

The drop “did not appear to be a continuation of a longer decreasing trend”, the researchers said, adding that the results seemed to corroborate the hypothesis that regular schooling had a big impact on intellectual development.

The results also suggest that the harm to children from distance-learning affected the whole of society and not only working-class families as some previous studies have suggested.