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Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood Chapter 15 Pages 517-525

In middle adulthood, the cognitive demands of everyday life extend to new and sometimes more challenging situations Middle adulthood is a time of

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Page 1: In middle adulthood, the cognitive demands of everyday life extend to new and sometimes more challenging situations  Middle adulthood is a time of

Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood

Chapter 15Pages 517-525

Page 2: In middle adulthood, the cognitive demands of everyday life extend to new and sometimes more challenging situations  Middle adulthood is a time of

Cognitive Development

In middle adulthood, the cognitive demands of everyday life extend to new and sometimes more challenging situations

Middle adulthood is a time of expanding responsibilities – on the job, in the community, and at home

To juggle diverse roles effectively middle aged adults call on a wide array of intellectual abilities› Including accumulated knowledge, verbal fluency,

memory, rapid analysis of information, reasoning, problem solving, and expertise in their areas of specialization

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Changes in Mental Abilities

Widely held stereotypes exist of older adults as forgetful and confused› Most cognitive aging research has focused on deficits while

neglecting cognitive stability and gains Different aspects of cognitive functioning show

different patterns of change Although declines occur in some areas, most people

display cognitive competence, especially in familiar contexts, and some attain outstanding accomplishment

Some apparent decrements in cognitive aging result from weaknesses in the research itself› Overall, the evidence supports an optimistic view of adult

cognitive potential

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Changes in Mental Abilities

Research on cognitive aging in middle adulthood reflects the core assumptions of the lifespan perspective› Development as multidimensional

The combined result of biological, psychological, and social forces

› Development as multidirectional The joint expression of growth and

decline, with the precise mix varying across abilities and individuals

› Development as plastic Open to change, depending on how

a person’s biological and environmental history combines with current life conditions

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Changes in Mental Abilities: Cohort Effects

Research using intelligence tests sheds light on the widely held belief that intelligence inevitably declines in middle and late adulthood and the brain deteriorates

Although many early cross-sectional studies showed a peak in performance at age 35 followed by a steep drop into old age› BUT… Longitudinal research starting in the 1920s revealed an age-related

INCREASE in performance To explain this contradiction, K. Warner Schaie used a sequential

design, combining longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches› Seattle Longitudinal Study› In 1956, people ranging in age from 22-70 were tested cross-sectionally› Then, at regular intervals, longitudinal follow-ups were conducted and new

samples added, yielding a total of 5,000 participants, 5 cross-sectional comparisons, and longitudinal data spanning more than 60 years

Results › Findings on 5 mental abilities showed the typical cross-sectional drop after the

mid-30s› But longitudinal trends for those abilities revealed modest gains in midlife,

sustained into the 50s and the early 60s, after which performance decreased gradually

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Changes in Mental Abilities: Cohort Effects

Cohort effects are largely responsible for this difference› In cross-sectional research, each new generation experienced

better health and education than the one before it› Also, the tests given may tap abilities less often used by older

individuals whose lives no longer require that they learn information for its own sake but, instead, skillfully solve real-world problems

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Changes in Mental Abilities: Crystallized and Fluid intelligence

Only certain mental abilities follow the longitudinal pattern in the previous chart

There are 2 types of intelligence that seem to explain these findings› Crystallized intelligence – skills that depend on accumulated

knowledge and experience, good judgment, and mastery of social conventions Largely influenced by culture Measured on intelligence tests by performance on vocabulary,

general information, verbal comprehension, and logical reasoning › Fluid intelligence – depends more heavily on basic information-

processing skills – ability to detect relationships among visual stimuli, speed of analyzing information, and capacity of working memory Measured on intelligence tests by items involving spatial visualization,

digit span, letter-number sequencing, and symbol search

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Changes in Mental Abilities: Crystallized and Fluid intelligence

Crystallized intelligence increases steadily through middle adulthood

Fluid intelligence begins to decline in the 20s These trends have been found repeatedly in investigations

in which younger and older participants had similar education and general health, largely correcting for cohort effects

In one study of 16-85 year olds› Verbal (crystallized) IQ peaked between ages 45-54 and did not

decline until the 80s› Nonverbal (fluid) IQ dropped steadily over the entire age range

The midlife rise in crystallized abilities makes sense › Adults are constantly adding to their knowledge and skills at

work, at home, and in leisure activities

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Changes in Mental Abilities: Schaie’s Seattle Longitudinal Study

Schaie found that there are 5 factors that gain in early and middle adulthood: verbal ability, inductive reasoning, verbal memory, spatial orientation, and numeric ability › These factors include both crystallized and fluid skills

Findings confirmed that middle-aged adults are intellectually “in their prime”

A 6th ability, perceptual speed, a fluid skill decreased from the 20s to the late 80s› A pattern that fits with research indicating that cognitive

processing slows as people get older Late in life, fluid factors (spatial orientation, numeric

ability, and perceptual speed) show greater decrements than crystallized factors (verbal ability, inductive reasoning, and verbal memory)

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25 32 39 46 53 60 67 74 81 880

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

verbal abilityinductive reasoningverbal memoryspatial orientationnumeric abilityperceptual speed

Mean

Sta

nd

ard

ized

Score

Age in Years

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Explaining Changes in Mental Abilities

Some theorists believe that a general slowing of central nervous system functioning underlies nearly all age-related declines in cognitive performance

Many studies show that scores on speeded tasks mirror the regular, age-related decline in fluid-task performance

Reasons why fluid intelligence (basic information processing skills) declines earlier, but crystallized abilities gain and then stabilize› The decrease in basic processing, while substantial after age 45, may not

be great enough to affect many well-practiced performances until quite late in life

› Adults can often compensate for cognitive limitations by drawing on their cognitive strengths

› As people discover that they are no longer as good as they once were at certain tasks, they accommodate, shifting to activities that depend less on cognitive efficiency and more on accumulated knowledge

Ex. The basketball player becomes a coach and the once quick-witted salesperson becomes a manager

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Changes in Mental Abilities: Individual and Group Differences

The age trends mask large individual differences Adults who use their intellectual skills seem to maintain them longer

› In the Seattle study, declines were delayed for people with above-average education, complex occupations, and stimulating leisure activities that included reading, traveling, attending cultural events, and participating in clubs and professional organizations i.e. if you don’t use it you lose it

People with flexible personalities, lasting marriages (especially to a cognitively high-functioning partner), and absence of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases were likely to maintain mental abilities well into late adulthood› i.e., individuals who experience less stress tend to sustain cognitive abilities longer

Being economically well-off is linked to favorable cognitive development› Probably because SES is associated with many of the stressful factors mentioned

above In early and middle adulthood, women outperformed men on verbal tasks

and perceptual speed, while men excelled at spatial skills› However, overall, changes in mental abilities over the adult years were similar for

men and women

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Changes in Mental Abilities: Individual and Group Differences

Cohort effects were evident in comparisons of baby boomers, now middle-aged, with the previous generation at the same age› On verbal memory, inductive reasoning, and spatial

orientation, the baby boom cohort performed substantially better probably because of generational advances in education, technology, environmental stimulation, and health care

› These gains are expected to continue: Today’s children, adolescents, and adults of all ages attain substantially higher mental test scores than same-age individuals born just a decade or two earlier

Adults who maintained higher levels of perceptual speed tended to be advantaged in other cognitive capacities › Probably because thinking faster allows you to consider more

things in a shorter period of time

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Information Processing Information-processing researchers interested in adult development

usually use this model to guide research on different aspects of thinking (we went over it in chapter 5)

As processing speed slows, certain aspects of attention and memory decline› Yet, midlife is also a time of great expansion in cognitive competence as

adults apply their vast knowledge and life experiences to problem solving in the everyday world

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Speed of Processing On both simple reaction-time tasks (pushing a butting in response to a

light) and complex reaction-time tasks (pushing a left-hand button to a blue light and a right-hand button to a yellow light), response time increases steadily from the early 20s into the 90s (meaning reaction takes longer)› The more complex the situation, the more disadvantaged (slower) older

adults are Researchers agree that changes in the brain cause this age-related

slowing of cognitive processing, but disagree on the precise explanation› Neural network view – as neurons in the brain die, breaks in neural

networks occur The brain adapts by forming bypasses – new synaptic connections that go around

the breaks but are less efficient› Information-loss view – suggests that older adults experience greater loss

of information as it moves through the cognitive system As a result, the whole system must slow down to inspect and interpret the

information Ex. Imagine making a photocopy, then using it to make another copy, each subsequent copy

is less clear Similarly, with each step of thinking, information degrades, the older the adult,

the more exaggerated this effect

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Speed of Processing

Processing speed predicts adults’ performance on many tests of complex abilities› The slower their reaction time, the lower their scores on memory, reasoning,

and problem-solving tasks› Relationships are greater for fluid than crystallized-ability items› This suggests that processing speed contributes broadly to declines

in cognitive functioning The correlation between processing speed and other cognitive

performances strengthens with age, but the correlation is only moderate

Processing speed is not the only major predictor of age-related cognitive changes› Declines in vision and hearing and attentional resources, inhibition, working-

memory, capacity, and use of memory strategies also predict diverse age-related cognitive performances

Processing speed is a weak predictor of the skill with which older adults perform complex, familiar tasks in everyday life› Which they continue to do with considerable proficiency

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Attention Studies of attention focus on:

› How much information adults can take into their mental systems at once› The extent to which they can attend selectively, ignoring irrelevant

information› The ease with which they can adapt their attention, switching from one task

to another as the situation demands Research reveals that sustaining 2 complex tasks at once becomes

more challenging with age› This may be due to the slowdown in information processing speed,

which limits the amount of information a person can attend to at once As adults get older, inhibition – resistance to interference from

irrelevant information – is also harder› Which can cause older adults to appear distractible in everyday life

People who are highly experienced in attending to critical information and performing several tasks at once, such as air traffic controllers and pilots, show smaller age-related attentional declines

Practice can improve older adults’ ability to divide attention between 2 tasks, selectively focus on relevant information, and switch back and forth between mental operations

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Memory

From the 20s into the 60s, the amount of information people can retain in working memory diminishes› Largely because of a decline in use of memory strategies

Older individuals rehearse less than younger individuals – thought to be due to slower rate of thinking

Older people cannot repeat new information to themselves as quickly as younger people

› Reduced working memory capacity is another likely influence Leading to difficulties in retaining to-be-remembered items and

processing them at the same time Memory strategies of organization and elaboration, which

require people to link incoming information with already stored information, are also applied less often and less effectively with age› Older adults find it harder to retrieve information from long-term

memory that would help them recall

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Memory

Tasks can be designed to help older people compensate for age-related declines in working memory › Ex. By slowing the pace at which information is presented or cueing the

link between new and previously stored information To understand memory development and other aspects of cognition

in adulthood, we must view them in context› Assessment in highly structured conditions may substantially

underestimate what older adults remember when they can pace their own learning

› General factual knowledge (such as historical events), procedural knowledge ( such as how to drive a car or solve a math problem), and knowledge related to one’s occupation either remain unchanged or increase into midlife

› Aging has little impact on metacognitive knowledge, which middle-aged people use to maximize performance Ex. Reviewing major points before an important presentation, organizing

notes and files so information can be found quickly, and parking the car in the same area of the parking lot each day

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Practical Problem Solving and Expertise

In middle adulthood, gains in expertise occur › Expertise – an extensive, highly organized, and integrated knowledge

base that can be used to support a high level of performance Gains in expertise support middle-aged adults’ continued cognitive

growth in practical problem solving – analyzing how to achieve goals in real-world situations involving a high degree of uncertainty

Expertise is seen in individuals in all types of work, not just in those who are highly educated or work in high-level jobs› Expertise can develop in any area in any field

Age related advantages are also evident in solutions to everyday problems › From middle age on, adults place greater emphasis on thinking through a

practical problem – trying to understand it better, interpreting it from different perspectives, and solving it through logical analysis

› Middle-aged and older adults select problem-solving strategies that are at least as good as and sometimes better than those of young adults

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Creativity Creative accomplishment tends to peak in the late 30s

and early 40s and then decline, but with considerable variation across individuals and disciplines

The quality of creativity may change with advancing age in at least 3 ways› Youthful creativity is often spontaneous and intensely

emotional While creative works produced after age 40 often appear more

deliberately thoughtful› With age, many creators shift from generating unusual

products to combining extensive knowledge and experience into unique ways of thinking

› Creativity in middle adulthood frequently reflects a transition from a largely egocentric concern with self-expression to more altruistic goals aimed at helping society as a whole

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Information Processing in Context

Cognitive gains in middle adulthood are especially likely in areas involving experience-based buildup and transformation of knowledge and skills› When given challenging real-world problems related to their

area of expertise, middle-aged adults are likely to out perform younger adults in both efficiency and excellence of thinking

By middle adulthood, thinking is characterized by an increase in specialization as people branch out in various directions in their life paths

To reach their cognitive potential, adults must have opportunities for continued growth › In occupation, leisure activities, and other aspects of their

personal lives