Generational gains on the Draw-a-Person IQ scores: A three-decade comparison from Turkey Cigdem Kagitcibasi ⁎, Duygu Biricik Department of Psychology, Koc University, 34450 Sariyer, Istanbul, Turkey article info abstract Article history: Received 4 February 2011 Received in revised form 10 May 2011 Accepted 3 June 2011 Available online 13 July 2011 In 1977 Draw-a-Person test was administered to fifth grade school children in a city and its surrounding rural villages in Turkey. In 2010, more than thirty years later, the test was administered again to a corresponding group of fifth grade children in the same locations. It is rare that we get scores from the ‘same’ population over a period of more than three decades. This paper reports such a comparison over time and draws attention to continuities and changes that provide us with insights into the effects of social change and development on human performance. In line with the commonly reported increases in intelligence test scores over time, gains in the DAP scores were found. At the same time, the variations along the rural– urban and socio-economic development levels obtained in 1970s were maintained in 2010. The comparative results point to greater gains at the lower part of the IQ distribution, in the less developed areas, decreasing the overall variance among the different groups. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Draw a Person Intelligence Socio-economic development Turkey Studies which enable comparisons of test performance over a substantial period of time are valuable in providing us with insights into continuities and changes in the degrees and patterns of intelligence scores. The present study involves such a comparison over a period of three decades in a city and its surrounding rural villages in Turkey. Thus it presents a comparative perspective from a developing country undergoing major socio-economic transformation. The general orientation of the study is in line with research conducted in a number of countries, mostly Western ones. That research shows that intelligence test scores have increased during the last century — the so-called Flynn Effect. Such increases were noted starting in the 1940s in the United States (Tuddenham, 1948; Wheeler, 1942) and the U.K. (Cattell, 1950; Scottish Council for Research in Education, 1949). Findings from other developed countries followed suit (Flynn, 1984, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). Subsequent reviews (Emanuelsson, Reuterberg, & Svensson, 1993; Colom, Andre´s Pueyo, & Juan-Espinosa, 1998; Flynn, 1999a, 1999b; Neisser, 1998) have further highlighted the importance of the phenomenon. Different hypotheses are proposed regarding the causes of these intelligence gains. They focus on genetic factors, random agents, biological factors, schooling and environmental improvements, even attitudes. Two most frequently cited competing hypotheses concern the improvements in environmental cognitive stimulation on the one hand (Flynn, 1999a, 1999b) and in nutrition and public health measures on the other (Colom, Lluis Font, & Andres-Pueyo, 2005). Most of the Flynn effect findings have emerged from Western industrialized countries. However, more recently similar gains have been reported from non-Western, less developed countries also (Colom, Flores-Mendoza, & Abad, 2007; Daley, Whaley, Sigman, Espinosa, & Neumann, 2003; Khaleefa, Abdelwahid, Abdulradi, & Lynn, 2008). These findings are important, as they can provide a cross-cultural test of the validity and generality of the hypotheses proposed to explain the phenomenon observed in the West. Some of the studies pointing to gains in IQ scores over time have used the Draw-a-Person test (DAP). DAP test has long been used as an indicator of intellectual functioning especially among children. Starting in 1940s its use in highly Intelligence 39 (2011) 351–356 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 90 212 338 10 00/15 80; fax: + 90 212 338 15 59. E-mail addresses: ckagit@ku.edu.tr (C. Kagitcibasi), dbiricik@ku.edu.tr (D. Biricik). 0160-2896/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2011.06.001 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Intelligence