Steven Mendoza, Ph.D. Adjunct Assistant Professor I.Q??

1. Stages of Adult DevelopmentStages of Adult Development
I.Q

2. Key question: What happens toKey question: What happens to
intelligence with age?intelligence with age?
• Does intelligence increase or decrease with age?
• If there is a decrease, is it due to aging or
disease?
• Are intelligent people better in school?
• Are intelligent people more successful in life?
• What is the relationship between life and
academic achievements?
• These questions will be examined and answers
postulated based on current research

3. Assessment of Intellectual FunctionsAssessment of Intellectual Functions
• Psychological tests were originally developed to
identify intelligent people
• Galton, in 1883 focused on sensory information
• Alfred Benet, 1903 wanted to identify people of low
intelligence from average
• Stanford-Benet, 1916 developed scales to identify
“intelligence quotient” or “I Q”
• Designed to predict scholastic scores
• Average IQ = 100
• Not designed to measure adult intelligence
• WAIS: most frequently used by psychologists to
measure adult intelligence

4. Intelligence as Multiple AbilitiesIntelligence as Multiple Abilities
• Factor analysis regularly indicates 6-12
primary mental abilities
• Verbal comprehension
• Word fluency
• Number
• Associative memory
• Perceptual speed
• Induction (general reasoning)

5. Intelligence as Multiple AbilitiesIntelligence as Multiple Abilities
• Sternberg, 1985
• Basic components of intelligence
• Three sub-theories
• Individual’s inner world
• Learning, planning, integrating new information
• How individual relates to outer world
• Adaptation to environment
• How individual relates to both worlds
• Adaptation to novelty, automatization of
routing tasks

6. Intelligence and AgeIntelligence and Age
• WAIS may not be optimal for measuring
healthy adults
• Designed to measure cognitive dysfunctions
• Normed on young adults
• May not be generalizable to older adults
• Early cross-sectional studies
• Intelligence declined with age
• See figure 12-2, pp 361

7. Intelligence and AgeIntelligence and Age
• Crystallized and fluid intelligence
• Crystallized
• Reflects mental abilities that depend on experience
• Formal and informal schooling
• Should not be effected by age
• Fluid intelligence
• Native mental ability
• Quality of brain
• How quickly signal can get in/out
• May be effected by age

8. Intelligence and Age- LongitudinalIntelligence and Age- Longitudinal
StudiesStudies
• 1st
longitudinal studies surprisingly showed no
decline in IQ by middle age
• Average person seemed to get smarter by age 50
• Cross-sectional data vs. longitudinal data
• See figure 12-5, pp 365
• In general, even in advanced age, change
proceeds slowly
• Once into 80s and 90s declines are more rapid
• Driven by failure of physiological infrastructures

9. Health, Lifestyle and DevelopmentHealth, Lifestyle and Development
• How to separate natural process of aging from
effects of disease?
• Studies indicate intellectual declines are
associated with disease
• Most people maintain constant level of mental
functioning throughout life
• But show greatest decline the five years preceding
death
• Favorable “life-style”
• Least mental decline in highly educated with favorable
environments
• Those who “live by their wits, die with their wits”

10. Perceptions of Intellectual ChangePerceptions of Intellectual Change
• Older adults who think they are more
in control, report higher cognitive
functioning
• Research suggests older adults can
continue to learn
• Capable of learning and performing at
high levels
• Intellectual decline is chiefly driven by
disease and lack of environmental
stimulation

11. WisdomWisdom
• Wisdom can be defined as
• Expert knowledge system on the
fundamentals of life
• Living long is not a condition of wisdom
• Conditions for Wisdom:
• Exposure and openness to experience over
a life time
• Personality trait “in between” extroversion
and introversion