Neuroscientist Says Gen Z Is the First Generation to Score Lower Than Its Parents
Gen Z Is the First Generation Dumber Than Their Parents
Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath reviewed decades of standardized test data and found Gen Z is the first modern generation to score lower than the one before it, with declines across attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, and IQ. In a 2026 Senate hearing on screen time, he noted teens spend more than half their waking hours staring at screens, and that similar drops appear in roughly 80 countries once digital technology spreads through classrooms.
A sad fact our generation has to face is this: Our kids are less cognitively capable than we were at their age.
- swed420
None of the comments so far are engaging with the OP, whose written testimony was included in the article:
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc...
It points to poorly designed and unproven "educational technology," or EdTech as the potential culprit. Rather than suggesting a luddite regression, it merely calls for proving the efficacy of EdTech prior to large rollouts.
Given the "reading wars" dragged on for over a century, I'm not optimistic this will be resolved anytime soon.
https://www.lexialearning.com/blog/the-science-of-reading-vs...
- jt2190
This article is a rehash of a New York Post article that quotes Dr. Jared Horvarth who testified before Congress. His testimony [1] references PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS scores.
Edit: His testimony concludes:
> This is not a debate about rejecting technology. It is a question of aligning educational tools with how human learning actually works.
> Evidence indicates that indiscriminate digital
expansion has weakened learning environments rather than strengthened them.
> Federal policy can restore balance by demanding evidence, protecting children’s
developmental needs, and ensuring that innovation serves learning rather than attention
capture.
> Our responsibility is not to maximize screen exposure, but to maximize the cognitive
capacity and long-term flourishing of the next generation.
[1] Written Testimony, Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, PhD, MEd, Neuroscientist and Educator Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc...
- variety8675
Every generation says this. Example (Sep 4, 1977) https://time.com/archive/6849143/education-why-those-falling...
- vxxzy
I suspect the distribution is more lumpy, best case. Worst case, the progeny of the affluent are eating up those sweet gains.
- ozgung
> The declines cut across attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, and general IQ.
Problem can be with the tests. Are they testing the correct thing? Are there any increases with other tests? Are there any functions they haven't tested?
Maybe they're faster, quick-thinking multitaskers. Their brains are augmented with always-online smart devices. They have constant access to knowledge and have better educational materials. They must be smart in a new way.
- tavavex
This article and ones like it will without a doubt be used against all of us Gen Zs to dismiss our opinions and sow hatred, no matter if the person in question is still in high school or pushing 30.
Talking about this in generational terms ("people who were born between years X and Y") and not causal terms ("people who were exposed to this and that type of education") is inflammatory and pins the declining test scores on all young people in general, as if it's their existence that's wrong. The generational divide isn't that good anyway, because one chunk of Gen Z has been exposed to studying in a post-COVID, post-AI world, while another chunk did basically the same thing as the Millennials, just with the internet being widespread.
- hemc4
What if, after few generations we realise that the test system we are using all along to test the intelligence were too technical and didn't consider the actual human intelligence?
P.S. Every generation thinks that next generation is dumber than the previous generation in some area and still we are making progress with every generation.
- ocd
Personally, I think Millennials are just as dumb, but we had the benefit of catching the tail end of analog and the last bit of actual reality in our formative years before technology took over our lives. Our behavior and habits just got worse after that.