Big Head Science
Scientific support for the Big Head.  Big Head Caps endorses the
efforts of the scientific community.  "More head, more hat!"   
VCU STUDY SHOWS BIG-BRAINED PEOPLE
ARE SMARTER
RICHMOND, Va. (June 17, 2005) – People with bigger brains are smarter than
their smaller-brained counterparts, according to a study conducted by a Virginia
Commonwealth University researcher published in the journal “Intelligence.”
The study, published on line June 16, could settle a long-standing scientific
debate about the relationship between brain size and intelligence. Ever since
German anatomist and physiologist Frederick Tiedmann wrote in 1836 that there
exists “an indisputable connection between the size of the brain and the mental
energy displayed by the individual man,” scientists have been searching for
biological evidence to prove his claim.
“For all age and sex groups, it is now very clear that brain volume and
intelligence are related,” said lead researcher Michael A. McDaniel, Ph.D., an
industrial and organizational psychologist who specializes in the study of
intelligence and other predictors of job performance.
The study is the most comprehensive of its kind, drawing conclusions from 26
previous – mostly recent – international studies involving brain volume and
intelligence. It was only five years ago, with the increased use of MRI-based
brain assessments, that more data relating to brain volume and intelligence
became available.
McDaniel, a professor in management in VCU’s School of Business, found that,
on average, intelligence increases with increasing brain volume. Intelligence
was measured with standardized intelligence tests, which have important
consequences on peoples' lives, such as where they’ll go to college or what
kind of job they get. Critics have called the tests inaccurate or irrelevant to the
real world, he said.
“But when intelligence is correlated with a biological reality such as brain
volume, it becomes harder to argue that human intelligence can’t be measured
or that the scores do not reflect something meaningful,” said McDaniel.
As an industrial and organizational psychologist, McDaniel works with employers
to screen job applicants and measure their performance. He said employers will
appreciate his findings because intelligence tests are the single best predictor
of job performance.
“On average, smarter people learn quicker, make fewer errors, and are more
productive,” McDaniel said. “The use of intelligence tests in screening job
applicants has substantial economic benefits for organizations.”
Before MRIs, scientists often used external skull measurements or waited until
a person died to estimate brain size. The external skull measurements were
only approximate estimates of brain volume.
For a copy of the study please go to http://www.vcu.
edu/uns/Releases/2005/june/McDaniel-Big%20Brain.pdf. If you need a fax copy,
please contact University News Services at (804) 828-1231.
###
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center: Located on two downtown campuses in
Richmond, Va., Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked nationally by the
Carnegie Foundation as a top research institution and enrolls more than 28,500
students in more than 181 certificate, undergraduate, graduate, professional
and doctoral programs in the arts, sciences and humanities in 15 schools and
one college. Forty of the university’s programs are unique in Virginia, and 20
graduate and professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World
Report as among the best of their kind. MCV Hospitals, clinics and the health
sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU
Medical Center, one of the leading academic medical centers in the country. For
more, see www.vcu.edu.  
The Big-Head Principle
Saturday October 30, 2004 by Ed Felten
Over the next few days, Americans will be asking themselves which candidate has what it takes to be president, or at least which one has what it takes to
win the election. To answer this question, we must first determine exactly what it does take. Based on personal observation, I think I may know.

Bill Clinton is the only U.S. president I have seen up close. He walked about ten feet from me in the Princeton graduation procession a few years ago. And I
couldn’t help noticing that he had a really big head. When I say this, I don’t mean he was very smart, and I don’t mean he had an inflated opinion of himself —
though both of those things may well be true. I mean, quite literally, that his head was considerably larger than average for a man of his size. So much so that
his head size is the one and only thing I remember about my near-encounter with him. Perhaps having a large head helps one to succeed in politics.

If you think about it, we are often drawn to big-headed creatures. Mickey Mouse. Frankenstein’s monster. Barney the dinosaur. Bart Simpson. Mister Potato
Head. Spongebob Squarepants. What is it about big-heads that makes us want to watch them?

Perhaps the explanation is that babies have disproportionately large heads, and we are genetically programmed to like babies. Or perhaps large heads can
better show sympathetic emotion.

In any case, head size is clearly an important factor in politics, a factor we can use to divine a hidden law of American politics — the candidate with the
bigger head usually wins. Call it the Big-Head Principle.

Which candidate has the bigger head in this election? Video coverage shows the candidates shaking hands after the debates. Looking at the two men side
by side, in the same shot, it’s clear that John Kerry has the bigger head.

Being nonpartisan, we will not endorse a candidate; but we can make a prediction. According to the Big-Head Principle, John Kerry will be the next president
of the United States.
Big Head Caps®