That was the finding of a new study of cognitive impairment, or a loss in mental abilities.

VOA: special.2010.07.07

The Morningstar study is incredibly damning in terms of the market timing abilities of individual investors.

晨星公司这一研究结果,谴责了个体投资者的市场时机选择能力

耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选

The study was designed to test for two abilities.

VOA: special.2009.10.13

Despite starting the research on 100 college students with the hypothesis that multitaskers had some special abilities, the study found that multitaskers were actually quite ineffective at managing information, maintaining attention, and getting results.

FORBES: To Multitask Effectively, Focus on Value Not Volume

One study suggested that neonicotinoids affected the abilities of hives to produce queen bees.

BBC: Bee deaths: EU to ban neonicotinoid pesticides

And in Plowden's day, there was nothing like the Third International Maths and Science Study, published in 1996, which compared the abilities of more than 500, 000 pupils in 26 countries.

ECONOMIST: New skool rules, OK? | The