Middle-class teenagers are less intelligent than a generation ago due to the dumbing down of youth culture and school tests, a new study suggests。

　　最新研究顯示，由于文化傳播與校園教育的低能化，如今中產階級家庭的青少年的智商要比他們的上代人偏低。

　　IQ tests show that scores for the average 14-year-old have dropped by more than two points between 1980 and 2008。

　　分別在1980年和2008年對普通14歲青少年所作的智商測試發現，現在的青少年智商比28年前要低兩分。

　　For those in the upper half of the intelligence scale--a group typically dominated by the children of middle-class families--average IQ scores were six points down on 28 years ago。

　　在智商較高的一半人中——這個群體的孩子大部分來自中產階級——平均智商要比28年前低六分。

　　Leisure time is increasingly taken up with playing computer games and watching TV instead of reading and holding conversations。

　　休閑活動被電腦游戲和電視占據，而過去的青少年只能閱讀看書或和朋友交談說話。

　　Education experts said a growing tendency in schools to "teach to the test" was affecting youngsters' ability to think laterally。

　　教育專家表示，學校越來越以考試為教學標準，這也導致現在的青少年缺乏思考的能力。

　　For the study, Professor James Flynn, of the University of Otago in New Zealand, analysed UK children's scores in IQ tests over time。

　　進行調查的新西蘭奧塔哥大學的詹姆斯·弗林教授分析了英國孩子們在這些年的智商得分數據。

　　He found that IQs increased among children aged between five and 10 over the 28-year-period, at the rate of up to half a point a year。

　　他發現，在過去的28年間，5至10歲孩子的智商在以每年提高0.5分的趨勢增長。

　　He believes these gains are linked to changes to the home environment children experience when they are young, with parents increasingly providing stimulating activities。

　　他認為這是由于家庭環境所致，越來越多的家長樂于在孩子小的時候從事促進大腦發育的活動。

　　But Professor Flynn also found that teenagers' scores had dipped slightly over the past generation。

　　但弗林教授也發現，青少年的得分卻比他們的上代人有所降低。

　　It is the first time IQ scores have fallen for any age group during the past century, his research suggests。

　　研究表明，在過去的一個世紀中，智力測試的分數下降還是頭一次。

　　"While we have enriched the cognitive environment of children before their teenage years, the cognitive environment of the teenagers has not been enriched."

　　“我們強化了小孩子的認知環境，卻忽視了青少年這個年齡段。”

　　"Other studies have shown how pervasive teenage youth culture is, and what we see is parents' influence on IQ slowly diminishing with age."

　　“其他研究也顯示，青少年的特有文化已相當流行，家長對這個年齡段孩子的智商所能起到的影響隨著他們年齡的增長而不斷減弱。”

　　"What we know is that youth culture is more visually orientated around computer games than they are in terms of reading and holding conversations."

　　“據我們所知，年輕一代的文化明顯傾向于電腦游戲，而冷落了閱讀和與人聊天交往。”

　　He said previous studies have tended to show IQ increasing as teenagers move into adulthood, entering university or starting work。

　　他還說，之前的研究傾向于另一種觀點，即青少年在成人、上大學以至開始工作的這段時間里，他們的智商在不斷地增長。”

　　Previous studies have claimed that using text messages and email can temporarily reduce IQ by causing concentration to drop, while smoking marijuana has also been linked with a decline in IQ。

　　此前有調查發現，發送手機短信和電子郵件會影響注意力，以至于短暫降低一個人的智商，而吸食大麻也與智商降低有關。