Part VII

1. Part VII Chapter Twenty-one Adulthood: Cognitive Development What is Intelligence? Selective Gains and Losses Prepared by Madeleine Lacefield Tattoon, M.A.

2. Adulthood: Cognitive Development Do people get smarter or dumber as they get older?

3. What is Intelligence? • General Intelligence • the idea that intelligence is one basic trait, underlying all cognitive abilities

4. Research on Age and Intelligence • Cross-Sectional Research • a research designed that compares groups of people who differ in age but are similar in other important characteristics

5. Research on Age and Intelligence • Cross-Sectional Research • Used in the first half of the twentieth century • convinced that intelligence rose in childhood, peaked in adolescence, and then declined gradually

6. Research on Age and Intelligence • Longitudinal Research • a research design that follows the same individuals over time, repeatedly assessing their development. • Bailey concluded that the “intellectual potential for continued learning is unimpaired through the first 36 years of life” and probably beyond

7. Research on Age and Intelligence • The Flynn Effect • a trend toward increasing average IQ found in all developed nations during the twentieth century

8. Research on Age and Intelligence • Cross-Sequential Research • a hybrid research method in which researchers first study several groups of people of different ages (a cross-sectional approach) and then follow those groups over the years (a longitudinal approach) (also called cohort-sequential or time-sequential research)

9. Research on Age and Intelligence • Cross-Sequential Research • Seattle Longitudinal Study • the first cross-sequential study of adult intelligence—this study began in 1956; the most recent testing was conducted in 2005 • confirmed and extended what others had found—people improve in most mental abilities during adulthood

10. Research on Age and Intelligence • Developmentalists look at patterns of cognitive gains and losses over the adult years

11. Research on Age and Intelligence • Two Clusters: Fluid and Crystallized • Fluid intelligence • those types of basic intelligence that make learning of all sorts quick and thorough—abilities such as short-term memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking are all usually considered part of fluid intelligence • Crystallized intelligence • those types of intellectual ability that reflect accumulated learning--vocabulary and general information are examples—some developmental psychologists think crystallized intelligence increases with age, while fluid intelligence declines

12. Research on Age and Intelligence • Three forms of intelligence: Sternberg • Analytic Intelligence • Involves abstract planning, strategy selection, focused attention, and information processing, as well as verbal and logical skill • Creative Intelligence • involves the capacity to be intellectually flexible and innovative • Practical Intelligence • the intellectual skills used in everyday problem solving

13. Research on Age and Intelligence • Eight (brain-based) Intelligences: Gardner • linguistic • logical-mathematical • musical • spatial • bodily-kinesthetic • naturalistic • social-understanding • self-understanding

14. Research on Age and Intelligence • Diversity and Intelligence • analytic intelligence, • valued in high school and college • creative intelligence, • prized if life circumstances change and new challenges arise • practical intelligence, • useful after college days are over when the demands of daily life are omnipresent

15. Research on Age and Intelligence • An Example of Practical Intelligence • from rural Kenya • a smart child is one who knows which herbal medicines cure which diseases, not one who excels in school

16. Research on Age and Intelligence • Which Intelligence is Valued? • cultural and historical context often emphasize one form of intelligence over others • cultural assumptions affect concept of intelligence • intelligence tests and school curriculums reflect assumptions about the construct being measured

17. Selective Gains and Losses • aging neurons, cultural pressures, past education, current life events all affect intelligence—none of these is under direct individual control

18. Selective Gains and Losses • Selective Optimization with Compensation • the theory that people try to maintain a balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses and to become more proficient in activities they can already do well • Selective Expert • someone who is notably more skilled and knowledgeable than the average person about whichever activities are personally meaningful to them

19. Selective Gains and Losses • Expert Cognitive • intuitive • novices follow formal procedures and rules • experts rely more on their past experiences and on immediate contexts their actions are therefore more intuitive and less stereotypic

20. Selective Gains and Losses • Automatic • elements of expert performance are automatic • complex actions and thoughts become routine, making it appear the task is performed instinctively • experts process incoming information more quickly and analyze it more efficiently than nonexperts, • their efforts appear unconscious

21. Selective Gains and Losses • strategic • experts have more and better strategies, especially when problems are unexpected • strategies may be the most crucial differences between a skilled person and an unskilled one

22. Selective Gains and Losses • flexible • because they are intuitive, automatic, and strategic, experts are also more flexible • they enjoy the challenges when things don’t go as planned

23. Selective Gains and Losses • Expertise and Age • the relationship between expertise and age is not straightforward • time is essential • not everyone becomes an expert as he or she grows older

24. Selective Gains and Losses • Older Workers: Experts or Has-Beens? • research on cognitive plasticity confirms that experienced adults often use selective optimization with compensation • apparent in the everyday workplace • best employees may be the older ones—if motivated

25. Selective Gains and Losses • Human Relations Expertise. • the most important skill for every age to learn is how to get along with others • understanding our emotional needs • the most common test of expert human relations occurs with parenting—a parent is patient, good humored and consistent—traits that become more common with age