Russell T. Warne, PhD - Psychologist, author, and educator

02/02/2026

New podcast episode from RIOT IQ!

This time, my guest is Dr. James Lee (University of Minnesota). He is a behavioral geneticist that discusses with me:
✅Why we know that brain size is a CAUSE of higher IQ
✅Why the general factor of intelligence is not a statistical artifact
✅The neural connection between genes and IQ..and more

Watch here:

In this episode of the RIOT IQ Podcast, we talk with Dr. James J. Lee about why IQ is still widely misunderstood and how intelligence researchers actually th...

31/01/2026

There have been so many famous social scientists exposed as frauds in recent years: Oliver Sacks, Philip Zimbardo, Stanley Milgram, and more. My colleague Shane Littrell (from Cornell University) discusses an interesting pattern in these people's stories. Littrell points out that they all got exposed because they were honest in their private lives, and when they deposited their work in archives, researchers could find the truth.

Read more:

Famous scientist bullsh*tters were surprisingly candid behind the scenes

27/01/2026

When people ask me who the smartest person I've ever met is, one name I always mention is Steve Hsu. So, I was honored that he agreed to be a guest on RIOT IQ's podcast. This episode is jam-packed with great info, including:
➡️How A.I. helped Hsu write a new scholarly paper
➡️A new, huge study on the genetics of disease on people of Han Chinese ancestry
➡️How to harnass other people's intelligence to solve difficult problems
➡️China's ascending dominance in science and technology (and what American can do to stay #1)

Watch it here:

In this episode, we sit down with physicist and researcher Dr. Stephen Hsu to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping intelligence research, genetic...

26/01/2026

A grossly inaccurate paper in the journal "Management Science" has been cited over 6,000 times. Boston University's Andrew A. King has been trying to get it retracted, and the journal would only require a partial correction. If this story sounds familiar, it's the same experience I've had in trying to get incorrect papers retracted. Read about King's experience from his colleague Andrew Gelman (Columbia University):

This paper in Management Science has been cited more than 6,000 times. Wall Street executives, top government officials, and even a former U.S. Vice President have all referenced it. It’s fatally flawed, and the scholarly community refuses to do anything about it. Posted on January 22, 2026 9:15 A...

25/01/2026

In this interesting essay published in Quillette, Francisco Ceballos (University of Santiago at Compostela) explains inbreeding in humans, how it can arise intentionally and unintentionally, the genetic consequences, and why taboos surrounding cultural sensitivity can cause a lot of harm and suffering.

Read it here (registration required, but is free):

How kinship, culture, and genetics shaped one of humanity’s oldest taboos.

23/01/2026

Scientists need ethical oversight, but a growing number of people (including myself) believe that the current system (called IRBs) creates unnecessary delays, is not cost-effective, and does little to protect research participants. In this new essay from the Institute for Progress, the authors propose reforms that would make research more efficient and make research safer.

Read it here:

How investigator choice in IRBs can improve ethical oversight

22/01/2026

Congratulations to my colleagues, Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski (at Vanderbilt University) for receiving the Dunnette Prize from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) for their work on a 54-year study of gifted "children" (who are all grown up now, of course). Benbow and Lubinski's Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth is THE most important study in intelligence research and has taught us a LOT about life trajectories of brilliant people.

Read more:

By Jenna Somers Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski have won the Dunnette Prize from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), for their scholarship on talent identification and talent development in intellectually precocious youth. Benbow is Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Educ...

21/01/2026

Yesterday, I hit 800 followers! Thank you to everyone who wants to learn about psychology and science without the hype.

Please invite your friends to join the club!

20/01/2026

Are people good at estimating their own intelligence? A new study says no. Not only are people bad at judging how smart they are, their estimates are more strongly related to personality traits, like conscientiousness and risk approach, than IQ. Also, men rate themselves more highly than females, and college degree holders rate themselves more highly than non-degree holders.

The authors' conclusions is clear: ". . . people are not good at estimating their test-derived intelligence, which is partly a function of their demography and personality" (p. 5). Based on this study and prior research, the authors argue that asking someone how smart they are measures their self-confidence--and not their IQ.

Read more:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113457

19/01/2026

Remember when media outlets were reporting a huge increase in the amount of microplastics in people's brains? Now, more and more scientists are questioning that alarming finding.

"'The brain microplastic paper is a joke,' said Dr Dušan Materić, at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany. . . . 'That paper is really bad, and it is very explainable why it is wrong.'"

Read more:

Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

18/01/2026

I have accepted a position on the board of the Human Intelligence Research & Education (HIRE) Foundation. The HIRE Foundation's mission is to advance the science of human intelligence through:
1️⃣Support open access of intelligence research so that the public doesn't face paywalls and barriers to the science
2️⃣Incentivize faculty to start a human intelligence course at their university
3️⃣Build multidisciplinary collaborations

To learn more or to donate:

The Human Intelligence Research & Education Foundation promotes scientific and academic contributions to theory and research concerning human intelligence through support for publications, teaching, conferences, seminars, and data resources.

17/01/2026

🚨🚨New podcast episode🚨🚨

This chat with Richard Haier (one of the pioneers of the study of IQ from a neuroscience perspective) covers more ground than any other RIOT IQ podcast episode. Topics include:
➡️The newest frontiers in neuroscience & IQ
➡️Whether society is warming up to IQ research
➡️New orgs that advance the field of intelligence

Watch it here:

In this episode, we sit down with neuroscientist Dr. Richard Haier to unpack what intelligence and IQ actually look like inside the brain.We talk about what ...