UHHS365 Discussion 3
Controversy 3
Do Intelligence and Creativity Decline with Age?
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
The view that intelligence and creativity decline with age is widely shared
A common stereotype is that older people take longer to learn new things.
Chronological age alone doesn’t explain much about learning ability and speed
Lack of practice, differences in learning styles, motivation, and cognitive complexity explain much more
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Do Intelligence and Creativity Decline with Age? (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Many obstacles hinder scientific research on intellectual and creative functioning in late life
Especially agreeing on a basic definition of creativity
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Elements of Cognitive Function
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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
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Elements of Cognitive Function (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Crystallized intelligence: reflects accumulated past experience and the effects of socialization
Crystallized intelligence reflects gains made in practical, everyday life expertise, often associated with wisdom
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Elements of Cognitive Function (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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
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Elements of Cognitive Function (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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
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The “Classic Aging Pattern”
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Creativity is difficult to define or measure
But social scientists have been researching and measuring intellect 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
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The “Classic Aging Pattern” (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
“Classic aging pattern”: the persistent difference in scores on measures of verbal and performance intelligence with increasing age
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Measures of Late-Life Intelligence
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
The validity problem—the problem of measuring “real” intelligence
Has helped fuel the debate over whether any positive cognitive developments come with age
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Measures of Late-Life Intelligence (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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
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Measures of Late Life Intelligence (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Research on intelligence in later life often conflates (confuses) intelligence, wisdom, and creativity
There aren’t agreed on definitions of wisdom and creativity, nor agreed upon ways of measuring these capacities
Results of research depend on the design—longitudinal or cross-sectional
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Studies of Age and Cognitive Function
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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 – buy the explanations for declines are inconclusive
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Studies of Age and Cognitive Function (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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 have less test anxiety
Many older people have internalized ageist beliefs that cognitive functioning declines as a normal part of aging, and thus expect to do poorly—a self-fulfilling prophesy?
Current cohorts of older adults have different educational experiences and exposure to technology
Longitudinal studies have found that few people show any “global” declines in intelligence as they age
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Studies of Age and Cognitive Function (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
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 most likely because of neurological and biophysical changes
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Studies of Age and Cognitive Function (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Although fluid intelligence shows 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 from living a long time.
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Correlates of Cognitive Stability
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Difference between “realists” and “optimists” in the debate over the causes and meanings of the measured declines in IQ scores with age
There continues to be a question about whether or not basic personality and temperament change in adulthood
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
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Creativity in an Aging Population
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Discussions of creativity, wisdom, and intelligence as we age should remind us how little we know about what is possible in later life.
Studies of previous cohorts of older people may not be a good basis for judging what older people are capable of today or in the future.
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Reading 11: Age and Achievement
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Lehman posits that creativity declines as a normal part of aging, starting as early as the third decade of life. What are some of his underlying assumptions about creativity and aging? Do you think these assumptions are valid?
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Reading 12: Age and Achievement: A Critique
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
Dennis takes exception with many of Lehman’s findings regarding aging and creativity. He states, “Clearly the relationship of age to achievement is a topic in regard to which conclusions should be drawn with extreme care.”
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Reading 12: Age and Achievement: A Critique (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
What are some of the reasons why we should be careful about the ways in which the relationship between aging and creativity is studied and the conclusions that are drawn from such studies?
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Reading 13: Growing Old or Living Long
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
In discussing aging-related intellectual changes, Carstensen asserts, “although there is ample evidence for cognitive deficits with age, the story about aging is not a simple story of decline . . . it is a qualified and more nuanced story. . . . Even in areas where there is decline, there is also growing evidence that performance can be improved in relatively simple ways.”
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Reading 13: Growing Old or Living Long (cont.)
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
What are some of the ways that intellectual performance in later life can be improved discussed in the reading?
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Reading 14: The Mature Mind
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
What does Cohen mean by the concept “developmental intelligence”? How does this concept challenge traditional definitions of intelligence in later life?
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Reading 15: Aging and Creativity
Moody, Aging 9e. SAGE Publishing, 2018.
How do Levy and Langer define creativity?
What are the key features of the life span developmental model of creativity?
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