Controversy 3 Does Intellectual Functioning Decline With Age?

The view that intelligence and creativity decline with age is widely shared A common stereotype that older people take longer to learn new things is true, but it doesn’t usually affect everyday performance Chronological age alone doesn’t explain much about learning ability Lack of practice, differences in learning styles, and motivation explain much more Many obstacles hinder scientific research on intellectual and creative functioning in late life Especially finding a basic definition of creativity

Elements of Cognitive Function Fluid Intelligence – intelligence applied to new tasks or the ability to come up with novel or creative solutions to unforeseen problems Creativity has been linked to fluid intelligence Crystallized intelligence – reflects accumulated past experience and the effects of socialization Crystallized intelligence reflects gains made in practical, everyday life expertise – aka, wisdom

Elements of Cognitive Function (cont.) In some societies around the world (particularly in the East), old age is viewed as an appropriate time for spiritual exploration and artistic development This may be enhanced by the fact that the sources of creativity and productivity in later life are complex and result from many different factors Many examples of creativity in later life focus on extraordinary older people But ‘ordinary’ people also show increased abilities in new ways of thinking and acting with innovation and creativity

The Classic Aging Pattern Creativity is difficult to define or measure But social scientists have been researching and measuring intellectual for a long time Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) – the best measure of global or general intelligence in use today; includes verbal and performance scales Verbal scores tend to remain stable; performance scores tend to decline Classic aging pattern – the persistent difference in scores on measures of verbal and performance intelligence

Measures of Late-Life Intelligence The validity problem – the problem of measuring “real” intelligence Has helped fuel the debate over whether any positive cognitive developments come with age Everyday intelligence – aka, “common sense”; involves pragmatic or social judgment, which is more than abstract reasoning Everyday problem solving – aka, expertise in life planning Wisdom – an expert knowledge system derived from experience and capability of dealing with pragmatic problems

Studies of Age and Cognitive Function Cross-sectional studies – look at groups of young and old people at a single point in time Longitudinal studies – follow the same individuals over many years Make more sense in this area because cross- sectional studies tend to overestimate the impact of chronological age Have found the steepest average intellectual declines come after age 60

Studies of Age and Cognitive Function (cont.) Young people taking IQ tests may do better than older people for several reasons: Tend to be more familiar with test taking from recent experience in school and are have less test anxiety Many older people have internal ageist beliefs that cognitive functioning declines, and that they won’t do well Lack the levels of formal schooling that younger people have Longitudinal studies have also found that few people show any “global” declines in intelligence as they age

Studies of Age and Cognitive Function (cont.) Cognitive reserve capacity – the degree of unused potential for learning that exists at any given time Aging is accompanied by a clear loss in cognitive reserve capacity Although fluid intelligence declines with age, crystallized intelligence abilities increase Decrement with compensation – declines in cognitive ability among older people can often be compensated for by the expertise acquired with aging

Correlates of Cognitive Stability Difference between “realists” and “optimists” in the debate over the causes and meanings of the measured declines in IQ scores with age Basic personality and temperament change little after the age of 30 E.g., extroversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, etc. – dispositions that predict how people will adapt to changing life circumstances When intelligence is defined as “the ability to think and learn new things,” there is a lot of plasticity, or potential for growth even at advanced ages

Creativity in an Aging Population Discussions of wisdom and aging should remind us how little we know about what is possible in old age Studies of older people in previous decades may not be a good basis for judging what older people are capable of today or in the future Art critic Ananda Coomaraswamy believes, “It is not that the artist is a special kind of person, but rather that each person is a special kind of artist.”