Severe Dwarfism, IQ, and Homo floresiensis

Some background on it dwarfism....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achondroplasia

Homo floresiensis....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis

World's smallest woman.


Obviously Homo floresiensis are not just human dwarfs (most likely), not can you directly compare brain structure between the two. But how intelligent could Homo floresiensis be? Significantly more than we assume based solely on cranial capacity?

You don't normally use cranial capacity to assess intelligence, but encephalization quotient.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalization_quotient

Further, I think it's pretty much universally understood that it's not the size of the brain but the structure of it that contributes most to intelligence.

With hominids, you can also look at their material culture. Floresiensis used fire, had stone tools, and probably engaged in cooperative hunting.

Very difficult to come to any conclusions though, really. I think many of the extinct homininae were more intelligent than the public tends to consider them.

I haven't been able to find cranial size estimates for Tom Thumb. He was said to be properly proportioned, so he should have a similar encephalization quotient to normal humans. Tom did eventually grow to be three foot four.

But this world's smallest woman, must have a similar capacity to homo floresiensis. I'd be shocked if you didn't have some mental developmental issues, but she must obviously be vastly more intelligent than some larger brained primates as is floresiensis probably was.

Tyrannical wrote:I haven't been able to find cranial size estimates for Tom Thumb. He was said to be properly proportioned, so he should have a similar encephalization quotient to normal humans. Tom did eventually grow to be three foot four.

But this world's smallest woman, must have a similar capacity to homo floresiensis. I'd be shocked if you didn't have some mental developmental issues, but she must obviously be vastly more intelligent than some larger brained primates as is floresiensis probably was.

She's got a modern human brain structure. Aside from any express neurological problems, I expect she falls within the range of modern human intelligence.

Just looking through a few article summaries, there are some known problems for ACH children with particular reference to repeated middle-ear infections that can lead to verbal comprehension being impaired, but the studies I've seen generally conclude that they are in a normal range of intelligence, although they might be lower than their peers.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... B/abstract

These findings point to generally preserved cognitive skills in selected children with ACH at early school age, although children with ACH should be evaluated individually as they are at risk for cognitive, academic, and motor deficits

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 0499000753

The intelligence levels of these children are usually normal...