How much does one year of teenage growth affect intelligence?
Your question overlooks some premises that have to be understood in terms of intelligence. Intelligence can refer to two things: Aptitude and Ability. Aptitude is your ability TO learn. Ability is what you already can do. There is biological ability – the amount of grey-matter you have in your brain to form connections – generally aptitude. There’s environment – an environment that either stimulates or inhibits growth – generally your ability. You can have high aptitude but live in among a bunch of people who stifle your growth and have low ability. Age is not the only determinant Your brain is still growing as a teenager – but it varies so much from individual to individual there isn’t a hard and fast rule. A year of teenage growth is HUGE though in terms of brain growth and development. Although age is NOT a predictor of advantage. Go to www.apa.org and poke around in there and see what you find.
