Psych 250: Lecture 20 Cognitive Growth & Decline in Middle and Late Adulthood

3 groupings of adults over 65

1. young-old (65-74)

2. old-old (75-84)

3. oldest-old (85+)

intelligence is.. (4 things)

1. multidimensional (composed of many, separate mental abilities)

2. multidirectional

3. characterized by inter-individual variation

4. characterized by intra-individual plasticity

inter-individual variation

patterns of change differ across individuals

intra-individual plasticity

openness to change; capacity for change and improvement is always there

two main types of intelligence

1. fluid intelligence

2. crystallized intelligence

fluid intelligence

• depends on basic processing skills:

  • analytical speed

  • working memory

  • detecting relationships among stimuli

• not subject-specific

• believed to be influenced more by condition in brain

• decline in late 20s or early 30s

crystallized intelligence

• skills that depend on

  • accumulated knowledge & experience

  • good judgement

  • mastery of social conventions

• abilities valued by the individual’s culture

• improves or stabilizes with age

concerns with cross-sectional designs of intelligence

• can’t examine intra-individual change (within self)

• susceptible to cohort effects that can create an inaccurate picture of the timing and extent of decline

• differences may be due to generational and historical differences related to when the person was born (e.g. changes in education, health, work & technology)

which designs are often preferred in regard to intelligence over ages

longitudinal designs

Seattle Longitudinal Study: participants aged 22-70 tested on what 6 abilities?

1. verbal ability

2. spatial orientation

3. inductive reasoning

4. numeric ability

5. verbal memory

6. perceptual speed

results of Seattle Longitudinal Study

• performance peaks in middle adulthood for 4 of 6 abilities, then decreases very gradually

• intellectual declines start much later

• only perceptual speed showed steady decline from the 20s

• found cohort effects on certain abilities

• steady decline seen with cross-sectional data is an illusion

problems with longitudinal designs

expensive, selective dropouts

what percentage of adults maintain stable levels of intellectual performance into their 70s? (Seattle study)

45-60%

what percentage of adults show increases in intellectual performance until their mid-70s? (Seattle study)

10-15%

what percentage of adults decline in intellectual performance by 60s? (seattle study)

30%

factors that predict cognitive performance in adulthood

1. education

2. lifestyles and work

3. health status

factors that predict cognitive performance in adulthood - education

those with more ___ tend to retain higher level

factors that provide cognitive performance in adulthood - lifestyles and work

using intellectual skills helps retain them

factors that predict cognitive performance in adulthood - health status

• chronic diseases may account for a good portion of age-related cognitive decline

• physical fitness and exercise beneficial

do intelligence and mental fitness decline with age?

it depends

two critical changes that underlie some of intellectual decline with age

1. change in speed of processing

2. limitations in working memory

as one gets older, changes in speed of processing include:

• speed at which you process info declines

• slower reaction times, slower perceptual processing

• slower cognitive processes in general

why does change in speed of processing occur?

• older adults take longer to decide if they need to respond

• slowing of brain’s communication processes

slowing of brain’s communication processes…

• limits how much information we can take in

• limits the ability to sequentially analyze information

working memory

the processing component through which current, conscious mental activity occurs

from the 20s into the 60s, does amount of info people can retain in working memory increase or decrease?

decrease

limitations in working memory

• attention is more disorganized

• decline in ability to sustain 2 tasks at once (i.e. multitasking)

• difficulties with speech and conversations

• declines depend on type of memory (e.g. more decline with recall vs recognition)

difficulties with speech and conversations

• age-related losses in retrieving words from long term memory

• planning what to say and how to say it becomes harder

two types of enhanced performance with age

1. expertise

2. wisdom

expertise (definition)

• definition: extensive, highly organized knowledge base in a particular domain - used to support a high level of performance

• compensates for cognitive decline. Reaches height in midlife

• often automatic

• rapid recognition of patterns

• better strategies and shortcuts to problem solving

wisdom

• definition: expert knowledge that focuses on the pragmatics of life and involves judgement and advice on crucial life issues

• believed to reach capacity in old age

Baltes Research on Wisdom

• questioned adults 20-89 on life-situations

• found age is no guarantee of wisdom

• type of life experience makes a difference

criticism about Baltes research on Wisdom

• highly selected, non-representative sample

• most were well-educated

• asked to comment on very brief descriptions of personal problems with little contextual info

Grossmann, Na, Varnum, et al (2010) process + findings

• asked interviewees to read & respond to 3 newspaper articles describing intergroup conflict

• older participants scored higher for each dimension & composite

• Study 2: read & respond to 3 interpersonal conflicts from Dear Abby column

• older participants scored higher for 4/6 dimensions & composite

Finding: wisdom does increase with age