This document discusses research on intelligence and aging. It covers the following key points: 1. Cross-sectional and longitudinal research shows that while fluid intelligence declines with age, crystallized intelligence remains stable or increases with gained experience and knowledge over time. 2. Individual differences in intelligence are fairly consistent over the lifespan, though adults can compensate for declines in fluid abilities by specializing in areas of strength and utilizing experience. 3. Experts develop automatic, intuitive thinking styles that allow them to perform complex tasks efficiently, and their strategic problem-solving abilities remain strong even in late adulthood.

2. 1. Introduction
2. Fact or Fiction?
3. What is Intelligence?
4. Selective Gains and Losses
5. Closing Thoughts
2

3. Fact or Fiction? Fiction Fact
1. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal research
indicate that intelligence declines systematically
during adulthood.
2. Individual differences in intelligence are “fixed” in
that they remain roughly the same over the life span.
3. Most developmentalists today conceive of
intelligence as a single underlying ability.
4. Experienced workers often surpass younger workers
because of their ability to specialize and harness their
efforts, compensating for any deficits that might appear.
3

4. Research on Age and Intelligence
How have some adults fared on tests developed for the Seattle Longitudinal Study?
Seattle Longitudinal Study: The first cross-sequential study of
adult intelligence (began in1956; most recent testing in 2005).
4
cross-sectional research: A research design that compares groups of people who differ in age but are similar in
other important characteristics.
cross-sequential research: A hybrid research design in which researchers first study several groups of people of
different ages (a cross-sectional approach) and then follow those groups over the years (a longitudinal approach).
longitudinal research: A research design in which the same individuals are followed over time and their
development is repeatedly assessed.
Source: Schaie, 1989
Scores
30
55 62 69 76 83Age
(b) Two men
Scores
43 50 57 64 71
25
75
35
55
Age
(a) Two women
154503
155510
45
65
40
50
60
70
153013
153003
clerical worker
purchasing
agent
homemaker
teacher who
retired

5. Many and Varied
Fluid Intelligence Crystallized Intelligence
The types of basic
intelligence that make
learning quick and
thorough. Includes
abilities such as short-
term memory,
abstract thought, and
speed of thinking.
The types of
intellectual ability
that reflect
accumulated learning.
Vocabulary and
general information
are examples.
Test your
intelligence
Test your
intelligence
What comes next
in each of these
two series?
What is the meaning
of the word
misanthrope?
4 9 1 6 5 3
V X Z B D
What is the formula
for the area of a
circle?
What was Sri Lanka
called in 1950?
Two Clusters of Intelligence
5

6. Age and Culture
creative intelligence:
A form of intelligence that
involves the capacity to be
intellectually flexible and
innovative.
analytical intelligence:
A form of intelligence that
involves such mental processes
as abstract planning, strategy
selection, focused attention,
and information processing, as
well as verbal and logical skills.
practical intelligence:
The intellectual skills used
in everyday problem solving.
6
What are some of the different types of intelligence that may be
important for success in different cultures?
Photo credits, left to right: Martin Barraud/Getty Images; Bartosz Hadyniak/Getty Images; Hill Street Studios/Matthew Palmer/Getty Images; Chad McDermott/Shutterstock;
Photodisc/Getty Images; Kraig Scarbinsky/Thinkstock

7. Optimization and Compensation
Older adults must compensate for aging by selecting
one task, to optimize their overall performance
7
selective optimization with compensation: The theory that people try to maintain a
balance in their lives by looking for the best way to compensate for physical and
cognitive losses and to become more proficient in activities they can already do well.
Photo credits: Left: Marc Romanelli/Getty Images; Right: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

8. Expert Cognition
What are the qualities of expert thought?
Expert cognition
Strategic
FlexibleAutomatic
Intuitive
Novices follow formal
procedures. Experts
rely on their past
experiences and on
immediate context.
Experts have
more and better
strategies,
especially when
problems are
unexpected
(Omerod, 2005).
Due to intuitive,
automatic, strategic
thinking, experts are
also more flexible,
deliberately
experimenting and
enjoying new challenges
when things to do not go
according to plan
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1996).
Experts process
incoming information
more quickly and
analyze it more
efficiently than do non-
experts and then act in
a well-rehearsed way
that makes their efforts
appear unconscious.
8Photo credits: Top left: iStockphoto/Thinkstock; Bottom left: Exactostock/SuperStock; Top right: Blend Images/SuperStock; Bottom right: moodboard/Alamy

9. Expertise and Age
How has the shift in attitudes toward work that women do affect adult expertise?
U.S. Medical School Graduates, 1982-83 to 2008-09
18,000Number of
graduates
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1982-83 1984-85 1986-87 1988-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994-95 1996-97 1998-99 2000-01 2002-03 2004-05 2006-07 2008-09
Academic Year
Source: Association of American
Medical Colleges, 2010.
Men Women
women’s work: A term formerly used to denigrate domestic and caregiving
tasks that were once thought to be the responsibility of females.
9

10. Expertise and Age
10
Video:
Expertise in Adulthood: An Expert Researcher
Discusses His Work

11. Closing Thoughts
What types of cognitive challenges do you expect
to become more easy, and which may be more
difficult, as you go through the years of adulthood?
11Chad McDermott/Shutterstock moodboard/Alamy