Lectures on Tap - "I Can" vs. IQ: What Childhood Research Reveals

Professors, experts, and storytellers giving thought-provoking lectures in DC bars. 📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email 🧠 Lecture: "I Can vs. IQ: What Childhood Research Reveals" 🎤 Speaker: Dr. Anna Johnson Is “I can” more important than IQ? For generations, we’ve centered intelligence as the key to success—but emerging research tells a more nuanced story. Join Professor Anna D. Johnson as she explores why skills like self-regulation, grit, and motivation may do more to shape life trajectories than IQ alone. Drawing on data from her own lab and from large-scale early childhood studies, Dr. Johnson will explain why IQ is relatively difficult to change, while self-regulation and related skills are more malleable—and how high-quality early education can nurture them. She will connect cutting-edge findings to the outcomes we most care about as a society: learning, wellbeing, and long-term opportunity for children, especially those growing up in low-income communities. Anna D. Johnson, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University and co-director of Georgetown’s Context, Development and Social Policy lab. A hybrid scholar with doctorates in Developmental Psychology and Public Policy, she uses quantitative and econometric methods to study how publicly funded preschool and K–12 experiences shape children’s development. Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌 Agenda 6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key. 6:55 PM – Host introduction 7:00 PM – Lecture begins 7:45 PM – Audience Q&A 8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round 8:30 PM – Wrap up.