Increasing Your Vocabulary Can Boost Your IQ

While the general public has been led to believe that your intelligence, or IQ, is something that you can not change, there is clear consensus in the research community that intelligence can be increased. Research has found that there are two components to intelligence: crystallized and fluid intelligence. 1,2 Crystallized intelligence can be defined as general knowledge, such as your ability to recall facts, generalizations and principals, and to apply processes, such as multiplication. Fluid intelligence is represented by abstract reasoning ability, working memory capacity, and working memory efficiency. 3

While fluid intelligence, which is considered innate, plays an important role in acquiring crystallized intelligence, it is just one factor. Through education, it is clear that students of any age can increase their crystallized intelligence, or general knowledge. And, numerous studies 4,5,6 demonstrated that crystallized intelligence is more important for academic ability than fluid intelligence.

So, the good news is that it is possible to increase your intelligence. Then, the question is “What is the best way to increase your IQ?”

A large vocabulary is one of the best general indicators of intelligence. 7 Between low- and high-achieving students, the vocabulary difference is estimated to be approximately 5000 words. 8 This difference typically has more to do with the student’s regular exposure to new words than their innate, or fluid, intelligence. Therefore, building your vocabulary will lead to increased intelligence, and a higher IQ score, as well as improved academic success.