Qatar, Nepal and Zambia have the same average IQ

Zambia has an average IQ of 77 and Qatar has an Average IQ of 78 and Nepal has an average IQ of 78.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wikiIQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations

http://www.suz.unizh.ch/volken/ThomasVolken/pdfs/IQWealthNation.pdf

Zambia is in equatorial Sub-saharan Africa and Qatar is in the Arabaian Peninsula in the Middle East and Nepal is situated in the Himalayas between North-eastern India and China.

Zambia is in habited by black (negroid) sub-saharan Africans and Qatar is Inhabited by arabs or whites (caucasoids) and Nepal is inhabited by a mixture of caucasoid and mongoloid peoples.

This is clear evidence that there is no reason to assume that there is an IQ difference between Blacks (negroids) and Whites (caucasoids) and possibly mongoloids too as we have a pure negroid population, a predmoniantly caucasoid population and a mixed caucasoid-mongoloid population all with virtually exactly the same IQ scores (77, 78 ,78).

Genetics tells us that 16% of the lineages of the people of Qatar and Oman are of Sub-Saharan African Origin which is relatively insignificant.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/45

The rest of the lineages are of Eurasian Origin and ultimately Caucasoid Origin.
So the people of Qatar are very much Caucasoid (84%) and have very little negroid ancestry (16%). The Indigenous people of Qatar are described as ethnic arabs.


Zambia

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People




Qatar

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People




Nepal

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People




Human Development Index and IQ

Of the 3 countries discussed, Zambia has the lowest Human Development Index score with 0.4-0.449, Nepal scores significantly higher with 0.5-0.549 and Qatar has the highest human development index score with 0.85-0.899.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:UN_Human_Development_Report_2007_(2).svg

We know that there are a large number of environmental factors that affect IQ and that less economically developed countries create an environment in which its citizens will not be able to achieve as much of their innate maximum potential IQ due to factors like lock of/poor education, malnutrition and famine, tropical diseases and many more (which I've listed and explained in the 'List of Environmental factors that affect IQ' Post). The lower the Human Development Index, the greater the increase in IQ points a country has the potential to achieve as the environment is lowering their average IQ more so.

Zambia has an average IQ of 77 and a Human Development Index of only 0.4-0.449 so it is very reasonable to assume that it has the potential to increase its average IQ to a higher score than that of Qatar which has a much greater Human Development Index at 0.85-0.899 but with an IQ of 78. Nepal has a Human Development Index of 0.5-0.549 and an IQ of 78 so it has significantly more potential to increase its average IQ higher than Qatar but less potential to increase its average IQ higher than Zambia.

List of Environmental Factors that affect IQ

Neurobiological Theory


Neurobiological theory tells us that the development of a humans various forms of intelligence usually ends by the age of 16, when a criticial point is reaches. Afrer this point of intellectual maturity, IQ is thought to be relatively stable. The environment has its biggest affect in determining someone's fluid intelligence up and till the critical point. Fluid Intelligence is someone's ability to think logically in verbal and spatial terms and detect patterns too.

For a person to develop certain intellectual abilities, they need to be provided with the appropriate environmental stimuli during childhood, before the critical period for adapting their neuronal connections ends. It should be mentioned that some researchers believe that the critical period effect is a result of the manner by which intellectual abilities are acquired—that changes in neuronal connections inhibit or prevent possible future changes which may explain differences in Intelligence types between people of different cultures.

Environmental Factors that affect IQ include: modern media, education, breast feeding, womb conditions, butrition, pollution, nurture and parenting, prejudices and self belief, national culture, head injuries, sleep problems, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illnesses, stress and diseases.


Modern Media

Modern Media forms including TV, film, computer games, electronic gadgets and devices, the Internet and computer software are giving people a cognitive work out each time they participate in these forms of modern media. Computer games, software and gadgets require great analytical and logical thought and probing in order to be used to their entirety.(*4)

Television shows are becoming more complex with up to 18 threads happening at once often spreading over mutliple episodes are re-appearing at different times, compared to just 1 50 years ago. The viewer is required to keep track of many threads at once. It is also becoming harder to make sense of what is actually happening on the screen which as peoples analytical skills and pattern recognition skills are being pushed.(*4)


Education

Increasing the time in educaton and quality of education before the critical limit and to a lesser extent afterwards, has been shown to improve a person's performance on an intelligence test.


Breast Feeding

In a comprehensive study involving 11 studies and ouver 7000 children, children who were breast fed were found to do 5.2 points better on IQ tests than children who were not breastfed.

http://www.breastfeeding.com/reading_room/iq_study.html


Womb Conditions

High intakes of alchohol and drug use in mothers have been shown to significantly lower the IQ of their children.(*2) Extent of prenatal exposure to marijuana affects development of intelligence later in childhood.(*3)

Prolonged period of time without access to oxygen during the delivery can lead to brain damage and mental retardation. Also, low birth weights have been linked to lower intelligence scores later in lives of the children.

http://www.upmc.com/Communications/MediaRelations/Research/Articles/AlcoholLowersIQ.htm


Nutrition

Poor nutrition, characterized by zinc, iron, vitamin B and protein deficiencies, leads to low IQ, which leads to later antisocial behavior.

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20041021205759data_trunc_sys.shtml
http://www.healingwithnutrition.com/adisease/add-adhd/harrellstudy.html


Pollution

Lead exposure has been proven to have significant effects on the develpment of a child's intelligence. In a long-term study done by Baghurst et al. 1992, children who grew up next to a lead-smelting plant had significantly lower intelligence test scores, negatively correlated with their blood-lead level exposure.(*2)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23188393/
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sep/2008/loweriq.cfm


Nurture and Parenting

Forster Care boosts an Orphan's IQ. Children who left an Orphanage before the age of 2 saw an almost 15 point increase in IQ over a 2.5 year period compared to children who stayed behind.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/21/Worldandnation/Study__Foster_care_bo.shtml


Prejudices and Self Belief

Women who did a math test scored 10-15% worse when they had to tick a box describing their gender before the test than women who didnt have to tick a box describing their gender before the test.

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/wellbeing/story/0,,2275833,00.html


National Culture

Japanese people have a culture which uses more sociable thinking, whereas american culture uses more independant thinking.

Native Japanese people used a different part of the brain to solve the same spatial problem as american japanese and americans. The Native japanese solved the problem fastest, significantly.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080111102934.htm
http://www.livescience.com/health/080118-culture-brain.html


Head Injuries

Head injuries, particularly to the occipital and pareital Lobes at the back of the head lower the IQ depending on the severity of the head injury and the medical treatment afterwards.
http://www.braininjury.com/children.html


Sleep Problems

Children with sleep apnea scored an average IQ of 85 while children without sleep apnea scored an average IQ of 101
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_1120.shtml
http://help-me-to-sleep.com/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea-and-child-iq-scores.html


Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Cocaine exposure to children has been shown to sublty (but statistically significantly) lower a child's IQ and language skills.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/282/5389/633


Mental Illnesses

Men with below average IQ scores has a 40% greater risk of developing schizophrenia
http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/000607.html

Schizophrenic patients were found to have below average processing speeds when performing IQ tests but still got the same number of questions right on average as non schizophrenics.

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1034/j.1601-5215.2002.140302.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=acn


Stress

Children who are emotional or physical stress score 13% lower on IQ tests than children who are not.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9802E3DE163BF932A05756C0A965948260&fta=y


Diseases

Multiple Sclerosis can lower a child's IQ.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107185.php

Malaria affects 300–500 million persons each year, mostly children under age five in Africa, causses widespread anemia during a period of rapid brain development and also direct brain damage from cerebral malaria to which children are more vulnerable.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12394524?dopt=Citation



BOOK REFERENCES

(*2)Neisser, U.; Boodoo, G.; Bouchard Jr, T.J.; Boykin, A.W.; Brody, N.; Ceci, S.J.; Halpern, D.F.; Loehlin, J.C.; Perloff, R.; Sternberg, R.J.; Others, (1998). "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns". Annual Progress in Child Psychiatry and Child Development 1997. Retrieved on 2008-03-18

(*3)Pulsifer MB, Butz AM, O'Reilly Foran M, Belcher HM. Prenatal drug exposure: effects on cognitive functioning at 5 years of age. Clinical Pediatrics. 2008 Jan;47(1):58-65.

(*4)Everything Bad Is Good for You: by Steven Berlin Johnson.

IQ and social class/wealth

A recent BBC news article is claiming that the Working Class have lower IQ scores on average than the middle class of Britain.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/7414311.stm

The scientist claims that this is due to inherited difference, but does not even consider any of the environmental differences between the working and middle class that affect IQ. Working classes have a much lower usage of private schools and usually live in areas of worse state schools, so have lower quality education and mind training in the thought needed to do well in IQ tests. It failed to mention that wokring classes have a worse diet than middle classes often with more E numbers and artificial colours and more fat and less nutrients and vitamins. Working classes are more likely to have absent parents and increased nutrure has been shown to increase IQ. Middle classes are much more likely to have Academic parents who engage their children in more thought and convesation that develops IQ test skills. Fighting and head injuries are more common among working class boys and lads aswell which will further lower their average IQ.

Yet more evidence of a scientist trying to make a name for himself, or less likely a scientist with class prejudices.