Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood: Myths and Realities

1. Chapter 17- part 2: Late Adulthood Module 8 Cognitive Development inLate Adulthood

2. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN LATE ADULTHOOD

3. Researchers no longer see cognitive abilities of older people as inevitably declining True or False?

4. Intelligence in Older People Older Research Studies and Findings • Notion that older people become less cognitively adept initially arose from misinterpretations of research evidence • Problems • Cohort effects • Reaction time components • Retesting effects • Subject attrition 441

5. Recent Conclusions about Nature of Intelligence in Older People Schaie = Sequential methods • Some abilities gradually decline; others stay relatively steady • No uniform pattern of age-related changes across all intellectual abilities • Acquired strategies remains steady and may improve 441

6. Fluid and Crystal Intelligence • Some abilities (fluid intelligence) decline, starting at age 25 • Other abilities (crystallized intelligence) stay steady or increase • For some, there were cognitive declines in all abilities by age 67

7. Environmental Factors • Certain environmental and cultural factors are related to greater or lesser degrees of intellectual decline • Lesser declines are associated with many factors 442

8. Exercising the Aging Brain From Research to Practice • Continued cognitive stimulation keeps cognitive abilities sharp • Training showed long-term effects • Engaging in some form of mental workout- consistently and continually increasing the level of difficulty-is key to success 443

9. Review and Apply REVIEW • Although some intellectual abilities gradually decline throughout adulthood, starting at around age 25, others stay relatively steady. • The intellect retains considerable plasticity and can be maintained with stimulation, practice, and motivation. 444

10. Review and Apply APPLY • Do you think steady or increasing crystallized intelligence can partially or fully compensate for declines in fluid intelligence. Why or why not? 444

11. How does aging affect this? • Think about what you have just learned about memory. • How might aging contribute to retroactive and proactive interference? • What development information about aging might support your response?

12. Memory: Remembrance of Things Past – and Present • Episodic memory: specific life experiences; impacted by age • Semantic memory: general knowledge & facts, unimpacted by age • Implicit memories (unconscious)- procedural and rules, unimpacted by age • Short-term memory: more impacted by age 444

13. An Opposing View…Salthouse • Rate of true, underlying cognitive decline in late adulthood is unaffected by mental exercise • Some people—the kind who have consistently engaged throughout their lives in high levels of mental activity such as completing crossword puzzles—enter late adulthood with a “cognitive reserve” 445

14. An Opposing View…Salthouse • This cognitive reserve allows them to continue to perform at relatively high mental levels, even though underlying declines are actually happening. • His hypothesis is controversial, though, and most developmentalists accept the hypothesis that mental exercise is beneficial 445

15. Decline and Stability • Age-related memory declines are limited primarily to episodic memories • Semantic memories and implicit memories are largely unaffected by age 444

16. Once upon a time • Autobiographical memory • Pollyanna principle • Recall of material that "fits" current self-view • Particular periods of life are remembered more easily than others 445

17. Explaining Memory Changes in Old Age Explanations for apparent changes in memory among older people tend to focus on three main categories • Environmental factors • Information processing deficits • Biological factors 445

18. Environmental Factors • Certain environmental and cultural factors are related to greater or lesser degrees of intellectual decline • Lesser declines are associated with many factors 445

19. Information-Processing Deficits • Inability to inhibit irrelevant information and thoughts declines • Speed of processing declines • Attention declines • Less efficient retrieval methods 445

20. Biological Factors • Brain and body deterioration • Especially frontal lobes • Continuation of education in old age • Can improve cognitive skills 445

21. It’s Never Too Late… • Popularity of programs such as Elderhostel is part of a growing trend among older people • Retired people have time to pursue further education • Many public colleges encourage senior citizens to enroll in classes by providing them with free tuition • Older adults often have no trouble maintaining their standing in rigorous college classes • Professors and other students generally find presence of older people real educational benefit 446

22. Review and Apply REVIEW • Declines in memory affect mainly episodic memories and short-term memory. • Explanations of memory changes in old age have focused on environmental factors, information processing declines, and biological factors. 446

23. Review and Apply APPLY • How might cultural factors, such as the esteem in which a society holds its older members, work to affect an older person’s memory performance? 446