Aging and Intelligence

1
Aging and Intelligence

• PS277 Lecture 9

2
Cognitive Aging The Far Side
3
Outline

• Definitions of Intelligence A Short History
• Everyday Conceptions of Intelligence
• Aging and Patterns of Change in Intelligence
• Factors Involved in These Changes

4
Baltes Framework on Intelligence Over the
Lifespan

• Intelligence as multi-dimensional concept?
• Multi-directionality in change
• Plasticity and training
• Interindividual variability in patterns

5
I. History of Intelligence as a Construct

• Early Single-Factor Theories
• Binets Test diagnose children unable to cope
  with regular schooling in Paris system focused
  on performance on reasoning tasks and gave a
  single score (M 100)
• Spearmans g general factor theory all tests
  correlated positively, a single general factor or
  thing called intelligence, on which everybody
  can be ranked

6
Multiple Factor Theories

• Thurstones Original 7 Primary Mental Abilities
• Verbal meaning
• Perceptual speed
• Reasoning
• Number
• Associative memory
• Word fluency
• Spatial orientation

7
Secondary Mental Abilities

• Interactions and structures that combine these
  primary abilities (6 studied so far)
• Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence two most
  widely studied developmentally
• Fluid seeing patterns and relationships in
  novel situations, abstracting information
  letter series (d f i m r x e ?)
• Crystallized incorporated the knowledge and
  information of the culture (what word is
  associated with bathtub, prizefighting and
  wedding?)

8
Howard Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences
9
II. Everyday Intelligence Whats Your View?

• List behaviors that you think are characteristic
  of young adults who are highly intelligent vs.
  those who arent?
• Anything special about older people who are
  highly intelligent vs. those who are not?

10
Everyday Conceptions of Intelligence

• Sternbergs research on lay people vs. experts
  conceptions of intelligence
• 122 Lay Persons 3 factors found were labeled
  practical problem-solving ability, verbal
  ability, social competence
• 140 Experts 3 factors found were labeled verbal
  intelligence, problem-solving ability, practical
  intelligence
• Pretty similar in having multiple factors, but
  more emphasis on social competence by lay
  persons, recent emphasis on emotional
  intelligence in field may reflect need to get
  more at this in standard measures

11
Predictability from Standard IQ Tests

• Scholastic performance correlations show that
  prediction of school performance in kids is about
  .50 with various IQ tests good but not great.
  Same sort of findings with respect to university
  performance and standardized tests (e.g., GREs)
• Occupational performance some predictability,
  but this may depend on relations with level of
  school attainment... practical intelligence
  measures do just as well as standard IQ tests
• Adjustment some weak associations for children,
  but generally not much, emotional and social
  intelligence might predict better
• Not such a great record for such a big business!

12
III. Patterns of Test Performance and Aging
Fluid vs. Crystallized IQ
13
Baltes Framework on Types of Intelligence

• Mechanics of Intelligence biologically based
  development, influenced by how the brain works,
  skills needed for schooling, develops most in
  early life somewhat parallel to fluid
  intelligence
• Pragmatics of Intelligence everyday knowledge
  and skills for solving problems, wisdom, verbal
  knowledge, more growth into later life very
  close to crystallized intelligence

14
IV. Factors Moderating Patterns of Change in
Intelligence Performance in Later Life

• Age is not really a meaningful explanation of
  anything why?
• Cohort Differences the Flynn Effect
• Health Status and Terminal Drop
• Information Processing Factors
• Social and Lifestyle Variables

15
Cohort Factors in Intelligence The Flynn Effect

• IQ test actual scores have increased on average
  for last 50 years. Why?
• Technology, nutrition, education of parents,
  other ideas?
• Maybe intelligence really is not fixed

16
Cohort Differences in Aging and Intelligence?
Seattle Longitudinal Study
17
Health and Terminal Drop

• Lindenberger and Baltes findings on sensory
  function and fluid intelligence
• Biological age and primary abilities in Victoria
  Study book shows that a lot of the variation in
  primary abilities is predictable from biological
  age measures
• Terminal drop as a phenomenon in all of these
  data sets

18
Victoria Study Data on Biological Age as
Predictor of Cognitive Change
19
Information Processing and Intelligence Tests
Componential Analyses

• Earl Hunts work performance on IQ tests seems
  to be substantially a function of individual
  differences in information processing one
  component of this is speed
• Example Hi vs. lo verbal test performers
  differed in speed of reaction to (A, a) vs. (A,
  A) stimulus sets when have to respond same if
  each letter has same name, different if they
  dont (A, B)
• Task componential analysis In order to solve
  the (A, a) problem, must also retrieve the names
  of the two letters, so this is how much longer
  this takes over the (A, A) case
• Speed of processing and working memory declines
  may account for much of aging losses in later
  life intelligence test performance

20
Occupational Effects on Intelligence in Adulthood

• Schoolers work on occupational complexity and
  intelligence
• Male workers (and some wives) interviewed and
  tested in 1964, 1974, 1994 mean age was 57 in
  1994
• Work complexity was rated, cognitive tests like
  recall, PMA verbal meaning, etc.
• Used SEM to test a model of reciprocal influence
  between work and IQ, separated for older and
  younger worker groups

21
Schooler et al.s Model of Effects for Young vs.
Older Workers
22
Training Intelligence Schaie and Willis Work

• Seattle Longitudinal Study
• Trained Spatial Orientation or Inductive
  Reasoning skills, depending on problems
• Clear benefits in 65 of older adults
• Persisted over 7 to 14 years in follow-ups

23
Schaie Baltes