Are Bigger Brains Smarter? Evidence From a Large-Scale Preregistered Study. (January 2019)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Are Bigger Brains Smarter? Evidence From a Large-Scale Preregistered Study. (January 2019)
- Main Title:
- Are Bigger Brains Smarter? Evidence From a Large-Scale Preregistered Study
- Authors:
- Nave, Gideon
Jung, Wi Hoon
Karlsson Linnér, Richard
Kable, Joseph W.
Koellinger, Philipp D. - Abstract:
- A positive relationship between brain volume and intelligence has been suspected since the 19th century, and empirical studies seem to support this hypothesis. However, this claim is controversial because of concerns about publication bias and the lack of systematic control for critical confounding factors (e.g., height, population structure). We conducted a preregistered study of the relationship between brain volume and cognitive performance using a new sample of adults from the United Kingdom that is about 70% larger than the combined samples of all previous investigations on this subject ( N = 13, 608). Our analyses systematically controlled for sex, age, height, socioeconomic status, and population structure, and our analyses were free of publication bias. We found a robust association between total brain volume and fluid intelligence ( r = .19), which is consistent with previous findings in the literature after controlling for measurement quality of intelligence in our data. We also found a positive relationship between total brain volume and educational attainment ( r = .12). These relationships were mainly driven by gray matter (rather than white matter or fluid volume), and effect sizes were similar for both sexes and across age groups.
- Is Part Of:
- Psychological science. Volume 30:Number 1(2019)
- Journal:
- Psychological science
- Issue:
- Volume 30:Number 1(2019)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 30, Issue 1 (2019)
- Year:
- 2019
- Volume:
- 30
- Issue:
- 1
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2019-0030-0001-0000
- Page Start:
- 43
- Page End:
- 54
- Publication Date:
- 2019-01
- Subjects:
- intelligence -- educational attainment -- brain volume -- preregistered analysis -- UK Biobank -- open data -- open materials -- preregistered
Psychology -- Periodicals
150.5 - Journal URLs:
- http://pss.sagepub.com/ ↗
http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/online ↗
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0956-7976&site=1 ↗
http://www.ingenta.com/journals/browse/bpl/psci?mode=direct ↗
http://www.jstor.org/journals/09567976.html ↗
http://online.sagepub.com/ ↗
http://firstsearch.oclc.org/journal=0956-7976;screen=info;ECOIP ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1177/0956797618808470 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0956-7976
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 6946.530300
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 9765.xml