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[quote=Anonymous]I may be missing something, but I don't see anybody on this forum saying that preparing for a test doesn't help the person taking that test.  That simply stands to reason.  But some people also question whether there is a [i]permanent [/i]and [i]meaningful [/i]improvement to a child's IQ through the use of flashcards, musical training, linguistic training, etc.  Using the sports metaphor brought up earlier, athletes no doubt develop skills and endurance through practice.  However, if they cease to practice, eventually they will return to near their original baseline.  The question then becomes, to what end are you training?  If you are training to better develop your intellect and to develop better studying skills, I don't see anybody arguing that this isn't a positive thing, and the argument the OP has repeatedly made that others are arguing against practical mental exercises is simply a straw man.  On the other hand, if you are training to simply improve your child's IQ as some testing service is measuring it, then I think a few people have expressed their doubts.  For whatever it's worth, my own opinion from what I have observed and read, every person functions within a band of ability that they are born with.  With work they can stretch themselves to the upper end of the band, while without work they may sag to the lower end of the band.   However, on average they will tend to bounce around within that band depending on various stimuli acting on them during the course of their lives.

I don't have a dog in this hunt as I frankly don't hold any stock in IQ tests as a [i]true [/i]measure of a child's intellectual ability.  However, it [i]is [/i]possible to have a constructive conversation on the subject without people waving around their persecution complexes like a bloody shirt if others only agree with their thesis partially instead of 100%.[/quote]

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