Lifespan Development: Middle Adulthood

Cognitive Development

Prof Dabie Nabuzoka, PhD

University of Zambia
dsnabuzoka@gmail.com
 Cognitive Development

 Results are complicated because many IQ tests

include a physical performance portion.
 Results may be due to physical changes
not cognitive changes
Formal Operational Thought
 Formal operational thought varies
 Not achieved in all areas
 Tied to experience
 Tied to education
Studies on Cognitive Development

 Cross-sectional studies - older people

scored worse than younger people on
traditional IQ tests.
 Intelligence peaks at 18,
stays steady until mid-20s, and declines
till end of life.”
 Crystallized or fluid? [next]
 Intelligence
Crystallized Intelligence: an individual’s
accumulated information and verbal skills
 Continues to increase in middle
adulthood
Fluid Intelligence: the ability to reason
abstractly
 May begin to decline in middle
adulthood
Some cognitive functions peak during
middle adulthood, while others decline
 Depends on how studies are conducted
 Cross-sectional studies show more decline than
longitudinal studies
Starting in late middle age, more time is
needed to learn new information
 Linked to changes in working memory
(fluid intelligence)
 Cognitive Development

 Intelligence
 The Seattle Longitudinal Study - Extensive
evaluation of intellectual abilities during adulthood
 Classified participants as:
 Decliners, stable and gainers for:
 Number ability, delayed recall , and word fluency

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 Memory

 Most people show only minimal losses, and many

exhibit no memory loss in middle adulthood.
 Sensory memory and ST memory > no decline in
middle age.
 Long-term memory
 Some decline in middle age.
 Storage is less efficient.
 A reduction in efficiency
of retrieval.
 Effective strategies stave off
some inefficiencies
 Figure 2 - Longitudinal Changes in Six
Intellectual Abilities from Age 25 to age 95

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 Figure 3 - Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal
Comparisons of Intellectual Change in Middle
Adulthood

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© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This
document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
 Cognitive Development
 Information processing
 Speed of information processing
 Reaction-time task
 Causes for the decline in speed
 Levels of analysis
 Cognitive
 Neuroanatomical
 Neurochemical

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Cognitive Development
 Memory
 Verbal memory declines during middle adulthood
 Linked to changes in working memory and ineffective
memory strategies

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 Cognitive Development
 Information processing
 Expertise
 Rely on accumulated experience
 Process information automatically and analyze it
more efficiently
 Have better strategies and shortcuts to solving
problems
 Are more creative and flexible in solving problems
 Practical problem solving

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 Increases and Decreases

 Increases with age:  Decreases:

 Tacit knowledge  Working memory
 Verbal memory  Speed of process
 Spatial skills
 Inductive reasoning

 Wisdom? It
depends
Older Adult Students
 Relevance not rote
 Accuracy over speed
 Minimize distractions
 Harder to learn when fatigued
 Learn better with slower pace
 The Expert Vs the Novice

 Midlife is a time of gaining expertise

 Experts and novices work differently
 Experts: intuition
 Experts: less conscious
 Experts: are better at handling unusual
situations
Readings
Berk, L. (2004). Development through the life span.
Allyn and Bacon
Hurlock, E.B. (2006). Developmental Psychology:
A Lifespan Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill
Kail, R. & Cavanaugh, R. (2010). Human
Development: A Lifespan View (5th Edn)
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