13 Science-Backed Signs You'Re Smarter Than Average - The Independent

10/16/2016
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13 science-backed signs you're smarter than

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Shana Lebowitz and Drake Baer, Business Insider | Friday 22 July 2016 | 1 comment
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How do you know if someone's smart?

Without administering an impromptu IQ test, there are certain
clues you can use to gauge a person's relative intelligence.
http://www.independent.co.uk/lifestyle/13sciencebackedsignsyouresmarterthanaveragea7151011.html
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Business Insider combed through decades of scientic research

News Voices Culture Lifestyle
and highlighted 13 surprising signs of braininess.
Keep in mind, however, that "intelligence" is often measured

through tests that have been widely criticized for putting certain
social groups at a disadvantage and for minimizing the
importance of creativity. Psychologists are constantly nding
newer, more eective ways to measure cognitive ability
meaning the signs are ever evolving.
Additional reporting by Chelsea Harvey
You took music lessons

Research suggests that music helps kids' minds develop in a few
ways:
A 2011 study found that scores on a test of verbal intelligence
among 4- to 6-year-olds rose after only a month of music lessons.
A 2004 study led by Glenn Schellenberg found that 6-year-olds
who took nine months of keyboard or voice lessons had an IQ
boost compared with kids who took drama lessons or no classes
at all.
Meanwhile, a 2013 study, also led by Schellenberg, suggested
that high-achieving kids were the ones most likely to take music
lessons. In other words, in the real world, musical training may
only enhance cognitive dierences that already exist.
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You're the oldest

Oldest siblings are usually smarter, but it's not because of
genetics, one study found.
Norwegian epidemiologists used military records to examine the
birth order, health status, and IQ scores of nearly 250,000 18and 19-year-old men born between 1967 and 1976. Results
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showed that the average rstborn had an IQ of 103, compared to

100 for second children and 99 for third children.
The New York Times reports: "The new ndings, from a
landmark study published [in June 2007], showed that eldest
children had a slight but signicant edge in IQ an average of
three points over the closest sibling. And it found that the
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dierence was not because of biological factors but the

psychological interplay of parents and children."
For this and other reasons, rstborns tend to be more
successful (but not that much more successful) than their
siblings.
You're thin
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For a 2006 study, scientists gave roughly 2,200 adults

intelligence tests over a ve-year period and results suggested
that the bigger the waistline, the lower the cognitive ability.
Another study published that same year found that 11-year-olds
who scored lower on verbal and nonverbal tests were more likely
to be obese in their 40s. The study authors say that smarter kids
might have pursued better educational opportunities, landed
higher-status and higher-paying jobs, and therefore ended up in a
better position to take care of their health than their less
intelligent peers.
Meanwhile, a more recent study found that, among preschoolers,
a lower IQ was linked to a higher BMI. Those researchers also say
environmental factors are at play, since the relationship between
BMI and smarts was mediated by socioeconomic status.
You have a cat

A 2014 study of 600 college students found that individuals who
identied as "dog people" were more outgoing than those who
identied as "cat people," according to a test that measures
personality and intelligence.
But guess what? Those same cat people scored higher on the part
of the test that measures cognitive ability.
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You were breastfed

2007 research suggests that babies who are breastfed might grow
up to be smarter kids.
In two studies, the researchers looked at more than 3,000
children in Britain and New Zealand. Those children who had
been breastfed scored nearly seven points higher on an IQ test
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but only if they had a particular version of the FADS2 gene. (That
version of the gene was present in roughly equal numbers among
kids who were and weren't breastfed.)
Figuring out the exact mechanism of this relationship between
FADS2, breastfeeding, and IQ will require further study, the
scientists noted in their paper on the nding.
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The top 20 names for smart people
20
show all
You've used recreational drugs

A 2012 study of more than 6,000 Brits born in 1958 found a link
between high IQ in childhood and the use of illegal drugs in
adulthood.
"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.
They conclude that "in contrast to most studies on the
association between childhood IQ and later health," their ndings
suggest "a high childhood IQ may prompt the adoption of
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behaviors that are potentially harmful to health (i.e., excess

alcohol consumption and drug use) in adulthood."
You're left-handed
Left-handedness used to be associated with criminality, and
researchers are still unclear as to whether and why there
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a
r
e
slightly more lefties among criminal populations.

More recent research associates left-handedness with "divergent
thinking," a form of creativity that allows you to come up with
novel ideas from a prompt at least among men.
In her review of a 1995 paper, New Yorker reporter Maria
Konnikova writes:
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The more marked the left-handed preference in a group of males,

the better they were at tests of divergent thought.
Left-handers were more adept, for instance, at combining two
common objects in novel ways to form a third for example,
using a pole and a tin can to make a birdhouse. They also excelled
at grouping lists of words into as many alternate categories as
possible.
0:00
0:00
Are you smarter than Ed Balls?
You're tall
A 2008 Princeton study of thousands of people found that taller
individuals scored higher on IQ tests as kids and earned more
money as adults.
The researchers write: "As early as age 3 before schooling has
had a chance to play a role and throughout childhood, taller
children perform signicantly better on cognitive tests."
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You drink alcohol regularly

Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa and
colleagues found that, among Brits as well as Americans, adults
who had scored higher on IQ tests when they were kids or
teens drank more alcohol, more often in adulthood than those
who had scored lower.
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You're politically liberal

Kanazawa led another study that found the farther left you fall on
the political spectrum, the smarter you are.
Among thousands of American adults, those who scored higher
on IQ tests as kids and adolescents were more likely to report
being politically liberal.
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You learned to read early

In 2012, researchers looked at nearly 2,000 pairs of identical
twins in the UK and found that the sibling who had learned to
read earlier tended to score higher on tests of cognitive ability.
The study authors suggest that reading from an early age
increases both verbal and nonverbal (e.g. reasoning) ability, as
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opposed to the other way around.
You worry a lot
A growing body of research suggests that anxious individuals may

be smarter than others in certain ways.
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In one recent study, for example, researchers asked 126

undergrads to ll out questionnaires in which they indicated how
often they experienced worry. They also indicated how often
they engaged in rumination, or thinking continuously about the
aspects of situations that upset them.
Results showed that people who tended to worry and ruminate a
lot scored higher on measures of verbal intelligence, while people
who didn't do much worrying or ruminating scored higher on
tests of nonverbal intelligence.
You're funny
In one study, 400 psychology students took intelligence tests
that measured abstract reasoning abilities and verbal intelligence.
Then they were asked to come up with captions for several New
Yorker cartoons, and those captions were reviewed by
independent raters.
As predicted, smarter students were rated as funnier.
Read more:
The debt deal that almost sunk Portugal's railway
Lloyds axing 1,000 jobs by replacing humans with automation
Why the EU referendum doesn't matter
Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2016. Follow

Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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What a load of rubbish this is honestly

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13 Science-Backed Signs You'Re Smarter Than Average - The Independent

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13 Science-Backed Signs You'Re Smarter Than Average - The Independent

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10/16/2016

13 science-backed signs you're smarter than

How do you know if someone's smart?

Business Insider combed through decades of scientic research

Keep in mind, however, that "intelligence" is often measured

Additional reporting by Chelsea Harvey

You took music lessons

You're the oldest

showed that the average rstborn had an IQ of 103, compared to

dierence was not because of biological factors but the

For a 2006 study, scientists gave roughly 2,200 adults

You have a cat

You were breastfed

The top 20 names for smart people

You've used recreational drugs

behaviors that are potentially harmful to health (i.e., excess

slightly more lefties among criminal populations.

The more marked the left-handed preference in a group of males,

Are you smarter than Ed Balls?

You drink alcohol regularly

You're politically liberal

You learned to read early

opposed to the other way around.

You worry a lot

A growing body of research suggests that anxious individuals may

In one recent study, for example, researchers asked 126

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2016. Follow

More about: | Intelligence

Company in focus: DRB-Hicom at nal bend with Proton, Malaysia's national

24 Celebs Who Are Secretly Geniuses

What Is The Secret To Perfect Orange Juice?

The Ultimate Way to Get Cheap Hotel Rooms

30 Creepy Places You Didn't Know Exist

What will cognitive computing change?

The Richest President in History? Hint: He's Dead

Note 7 Replacements Still A Risk On US Airlines

What a load of rubbish this is honestly

This cartoon sums up

the hurricane in Haiti

Waitrose is limiting free

Taiwan suppliers see China

20 Heartbreaking Photos Of Pollution

A New MMORPG You Won't Get Bored

13 Celebs Who Only Fly Private

36 Terrifying Military Photos

Meet the voters who deplore

The ve things you

Install our Apps

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