Chapter 5 part 1 Flashcards
Cognitive functioning refers to:
a) intelligence
b) learning
c) memory
Age-related physiological changes may affect these three elements
Intelligence is difficult to define; it is:
a) the theoretical limit of a person’s performance (Jones, 1959)
b) to judge well, to comprehend well, and to reason well (Binet & Simon, 1905)
c) composed by 3 dimensions (Guilford, 1967, 1966):
1) content, 2) operations, and 3) products
The content of knowledge includes
What are the operations to be performed with this knowledge?
The products derived from these operations are
This model, difficult to test, produces a total of
-includes figures, symbols and words
-The operations to be performed with this knowledge are to memorize, to evaluate, and to come up with 1 or > solutions
-systems and implications
120 separate components
The primary mental abilities are:
a) number/mathematical reasoning
b) word fluency (description of the world by using the appropriate words)
c) vocabulary level/verbal meaning
d) ability to generalize from specific facts to concepts/inductive reasoning
e) ability to orient self in a 3D space/spatial orientation;
f) memory; and g) perceptual speed
Fluid intelligence =
biologically determined skills, similar to “native intelligence”, requires flexibility in thinking (spatial orientation, perceptual speed & abstract reasoning)
________ changes in ________ occur with aging
Structural changes in neural pathways
Crystallized intelligence =
abilities and knowledge that people obtain through experiences and education (verbal comprehension, social judgment & word association)
________ and _______ affects older adults’ test performance
Anxiety, time restraints
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
= 11 subtests, 6 are verbal scales & 5 are performance scales
The Classic Aging Pattern =
older adults often perform worse on performance scales only
Remember that _________ may be picking up ________, not ________
cross-sectional studies, cohort differences, age changes
Intellectual functioning peaks
In the late 40s and 50s
Test performance is affected by many factors, such as:
a) poor health in general
b) nutritional deficits
c) cardiovascular disease
d) sensory deficits (hearing & vision loss)
e) hypertension
f) education
g) conducting mechanistic vs. complex work
Maybe younger people perform better at tests due to
to higher educational attainment
Lawyers & teachers
Architects & engineers
practice their verbal skills more
as they age, are still strong on performance tests
Terminal decline hypothesis =
there is a quick deterioration in cognitive functioning within 5 years of death
Learning =
process of encoding/putting into memory skills or new information
Memory =
process of recalling/retrieving information stored in the brain when needed
Recall is often a problem for older adults
Sensory memory =
people receive information through the sense organs & this memory passes it on to primary or secondary memory
Primary memory =
a working memory, a temporary stage of organizing and holding information (7 + or - 2 words, letters or digits)
Secondary memory =
permanent memory store; information must be rehearsed actively to be retained
