Chapter Twenty-One

1. Chapter Twenty-One Middle Adulthood: Cognitive Development what is intelligence components of intelligence selective losses and gains

2. What is Intelligence? Spearman came up with the concept of general intelligence, thought to be a single entity. Now scientists believe it is more useful to look at adult intelligence as several distinct intellectual capacities. Influence by multiple factors.

3. It is influenced by genetics, prenatal brain development, experiences through out life, etc. Measuring intelligence reflects assumptions about what is measured; also cultures and families value different intelligences psychometricians’ fears that most intelligence tests are valid measures of verbal and logical skills of North Americans, but not necessarily of people in other cultures

4. For first half of the twentieth century, psychologists were convinced, based on solid evidence, that intelligence declined over time a classic cross-sectional study found that the average male: reached his intellectual peak at about age 18 intellectual decline began in mid-20s hundreds of other cross-sectional studies in many nations also found younger adults outscored older adults on measures of intelligence Cross-Sectional Research

5. In 1955, Nancy Bayley and Melita Oden analyzed adult intelligence of child geniuses who had grown up Found that most of the 36-year-olds were still improving in vocabulary, comprehension, and information Bayley wondered whether this group’s high intelligence during childhood had protected them from age-related decline Longitudinal Research

6. After further research, Bayley concluded intellectual learning is unimpaired through age 36 and beyond Longitudinal research showed that, over time, intellectual growth resulted from improvements in quality and extent of public education variety of cultural opportunities expanded media information

7. Bayley’s research also showed: older adults previously tested often did not go beyond 8th grade and so did not fully develop their intelligence each generation scores higher on IQ tests because each is better educated

8. Evidence for the Flynn effect—a trend toward increasing average IQ over generations—comes from research comparing test scores over time in every country, younger cohorts outscored older ones because of Flynn effect, widely-used IQ tests are renormed about every 15 years The Flynn Effect

9. Schaie tested cross-section of 500 adults of different age groups on 5 standard primary mental abilities = foundations of intelligence verbal meaning, spatial orientation, inductive reasoning, number ability, and word fluency Schaie concluded people improve in most mental abilities until their 80s, at which point they fall below the mid-range performance of young adults.

10. Developmentalists are now looking at patterns of gains and losses in intellect over the adult years How many abilities are there? We will look at 3 different proposals Components of Intelligence: Many and Varied

11. Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence Fluid Intelligence Basic information-processing skills Speed of analyzing information Capacity of working memory Ability to detect relationships Brain and learning unique to the individual, less by culture Measured by number series, spatial visualization, figure matrices, and picture series items on an intelligence test

12. Crystallized Intelligence Skills that depend on accumulated knowledge and experience, good judgment, and mastery of social convention Measured by vocabulary, general information, verbal analogy, and logical reasoning items on an intelligence test

13. Three Forms of Intelligence: Sternberg Analytic mental processes that foster academic proficiency by making possible efficient learning, remembering, and thinking involves abstract planning, strategy selection, focused attention, and information processing

14. Creative Intelligence involves capacity to be intellectually flexible and innovative in new situations divergent = diverse, innovative, and unusual solutions Practical Intelligence involves capacity to adapt ones’ behavior to the contextual demands of a given situation includes accurate grasp of expectations and needs of people involved and an awareness of skills needed

15. Schaie found 5 primary abilities verbal meaning, & spatial orientation inductive reasoning, & word fluency number ability; this, unlike other 4 that increases from age 20 to the late 50s, shifts downward by age 40 After age 60, decreases small but statistically significant cohort effect was found Five Primary Abilities

16. Culture and Abilities Cultural assumptions about aging affect concepts of intelligence and development of intelligence test U.S. culture values youth and devalues age abilities of youth (quick reaction time, etc.) are central to psychometric intelligence tests strengths of older adults (recognizing and upholding traditions, etc.) not as valued

17. Psychometric evaluation of adult intelligence must consider cultural background of person and assumptions of test authors culture becomes increasingly important when evaluating abilities of people as they age Education is a cultural manifestation

18. Selective Gains and Losses Many researchers believe that adults make deliberate choices about their intellectual development, separate from their culture or education

19. Optimization with Compensation Paul and Margaret Baltes developed theory called selective optimization with compensation try to become more proficient at activities they do well When selective optimization with compensation is applied to cognition cognitive skills and achievements can be broken down into discrete components to maximize gains and minimize losses

20. Expert Cognition? Expert—someone notably more skilled and knowledgeable than average person is about a specific intellectual topic or practical ability Expert Thought Intuitive, automatic, strategic, flexible Intuitive: Compared to novices, actions of experts are intuitive as they rely on accumulated experiences and immediate context

21. Automatic: incoming information is processed more quickly and analyzed more efficiently Strategic: Experts distinguished by use of strategies, which allow for more selective optimization with compensation. Flexible: derives from their actions being intuitive, automatic, and strategic. Also comes from their being creative and curious, deliberately experimenting and enjoying the challenge when things don’t go as planned

22. Expertise on the Job Research on cognitive plasticity often shows the use of selective optimization with compensation especially apparent in the everyday workplace Complicated work requires more cognitive practice and expertise than does routine work

23. The Stresses of Life Middle-aged adults in the thick of things parents to teens, children of aging parents, and responsible at work role overload needs strategies to deal with the stress that is everywhere Stressors—circumstances or events that damage a person’s physical or psychological well-being

24. Ways of Coping with Stress A stress may be ignored or considered important enough to be viewed as a challenge, not a threat no damage to body from response to stress Psychologists have differentiated 2 major ways of coping with stress problem-focused coping—attacking problem emotion-focused coping—changing feelings about the stress