# James R. Flynn Back to [[Reverse Flynn Effect and EdTech]] **Role:** Political scientist and intelligence researcher (1934–2020); namesake of the Flynn effect - ⚠️ Background from memory, not re-checked this session: - US-born and long based at the **University of Otago**, New Zealand. - He documented large IQ gains across cohorts in *Psychological Bulletin* (1984, US; 1987, "Massive IQ gains in 14 nations"). - Books include *What Is Intelligence?* (2007). - He died in December 2020. - The term "Flynn effect" was popularized by Herrnstein & Murray's *The Bell Curve* (1994) ⚠️. - He argued the gains reflect societies adopting more abstract, "scientific" habits of thought, not rising innate intelligence ⚠️ (summary from memory). - **Relevance:** the post's "200-year trend" leans on his effect. The documented rise covers about a century (1909–2013 in Pietschnig & Voracek's meta-analysis), not 200 years.