Week 11 (12) ageing and life outcomes

Are clever children, clever adults?

yes they do tend to be

Do crystallised abilities (vocab) increase or decreased with age?

steady increase then plateau and slight decline after 60 years

Do fluid abilities (processing speed) increase or decreased with age?

gradual decline from young to old age

What is cognitive reserve?

the brain's ability to compensate for brain damage or pathology through pre-existing cognitive processing or compensatory mechanisms

What can protect cognitive reserve in childhood?

enviro and cognitive enrichment

Does bilingualism contribute to cognitive reserve?

yes - lifelong bilingualism contributes to cog reserve and delays onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms

What did Deary et al 2007 find in their longitudinal study?

IQ at age 11 is a powerful predictor of educational attainment at age 16 (GCSE scores)

however, considerable amount of variation in GCSE scores were not related to CAT scores at age 11

Is IQ the only influencer of good grades?

no, children’s self perceptions, intrinsic value and motivation also play a part

What did Hunter and Schmidt 1998 find about IQ and job performance?

general intelligence is best predictor of job progress and who will benefit most from additional training

more relevant for more complex professional occupations

What other relevant variables did Hunter and Schmidt find about job performance?

integrity

conscientiousness

reference checks

performance at structured interview

What did Batty et al 2009 find about intelligence and longevity?

studied 1 million Swedish men - 20 years follow up

every SD increase in IQ associated with 32% decrease in mortality risk 20 years later

In 1932 Scottish Mental Survey used the Moray House test to assess what?

intelligence of 11 year old children and retested them later in life to examine stability of intelligence

Calvin et al 2017 found that the Moray House test score at 11 years was associated with what?

major causes of death

Increased risk of SZ, PTSD and depression are associated with what?

low childhood IQ

The 1958 Childhood Development Survey revealed what?

increase in IQ score at 10/11 years was associated with 39% reduction in psych distress at age 30

What did Iverson et al 2023 find?

higher childhood intelligence was significantly associated with reduced risk of self harm but was not significantly associated with suicide risk

What did Ball et al (2024) find about childhood intelligence and risk of depression in later life?

ppts took Scottish Mental Health Survey in 1947

higher childhood intelligence associated with reduced risk of depression in later life (identified using hospital admissions data)