Dylan Colbert wants to help us get smarter. The Maynooth University researcher explained how during his presentation at Researchfest 2017.
Most of us have a certain level of intelligence, and many of us would like to have a bit more. We typically measure intellect with an IQ (intelligence quotient) score, which many studies say is fixed and unchangeable. Dylan Colbert’s PhD thesis on relational skills interventions and human intelligence completely challenges this notion.
Relational skills refer to our level of understanding of the relationship between stimuli in our environment – for example, same and opposite, more than and less than, before and after. Studies have shown that relational skills and relational ability are so important to intelligence that they may even be fundamental to it. The beauty of this is that relational skills can be learned and improved upon, which could mean that IQ can be heightened as a result.
However, this research is still at the preliminary stage, and Colbert is adding to it through his work at Maynooth University.
Words by Elaine Burke