Westminster Alumnus Makes Groundbreaking Discovery on Intelligence

Dr. Duje Tadin,’99, has been making national news with his research findings suggesting intelligence is more about what the brain chooses to ignore than simply the ability to process information rapidly.  Research reported by Dr. Tadin and his team in Current Biology indicates people with higher IQ’s focus on details and ignore larger objects that are not relevant.

“Rather than raw processing power, the ability to focus on relevant details is what we see in really efficient brains, says Dr. Tadin, who is Assistant Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester.  “It’s a little like opening up your e-mail every day and zooming in on the important message and focusing on that task to succeed.”

For years scientists have tried to link intelligence with speed and accuracy, but this is the first study that confirms more intelligent people are able to focus on the relevant information and shut out what is irrelevant.  The findings may also help scientists explain why some autistic people have astounding intellectual talent.

Dr. Tadin and his research team administered two series of tests to 67 people with average IQ scores of 100, the normal level.  Volunteers watched a visual test comprised of movies of circular grids that appeared to move left or right.  They would then identify how many frames of the movie they had to view before they saw a moving object.  Results confirmed a large difference between the number of frames needed to detect motion on the small grid for those with high IQ’s and their later perception of motion on the large one.

Articles have appeared on the research findings of Dr. Tadin and his team in Time magazine and USA Today.

Dr. Tadin came to Westminster College from Croatia and majored in mathematics and psychology.  He spent two terms at Oxford University before earning an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.