Chapter 7: Higher Order Cognition Flashcards
What is Executive Functioning
- higher-order cognitive skills that play a role in making decisions, planning, allocate mental resources
- depends on speed
- related to many everyday tasks
- contributes to intelligence
Neuropsychological Assessment
- trail making test: frontal lobe
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: WCST
- CANTAB: large battery (22 subsets), computerized
Intelligence tests
- WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale)
- PMAT
What is WAIS? What are the 4 Indixes?
- intelligence test for adults
- 4 indixes
1. verbal comprehension index (vocabulary, similarities, information)
2. perceptual reasoning index (matrix reasoning, visual puzzles, block design)
3. working memory index (digit span, arithmetic)
4. precessing speed index (symbol search, coding )
What is the PMAT test?
- primary mental abilities test
- thurstone
- primarily for research
- looks at verbal comprehension, reasoning, perceptual speed, numerical ability, word fluency, associative memory, spatial visualization
Aging and Executive Functioning: Additional tests
- task switching (eg, cognitive flexibility, odd then even)
- verbal fluency
Aging and Executive Functioning: Age-related decline
- older adult may not be aware of these
- verbal fluency: greater tendency to perseverate, especially those with lower vocab/education
Aging and Executive Functioning: Compensation
- exercise
- video game playing (exergaming, mixed violence, transferability)
what is the earliest research in intelligence
- classic aging pattern (decline in the performance sub-tests beyond age 65 on WAIS)
- cross-sectional vs longitudinal designs
Theoretical Perspectives of Intelligence
- Spearman, g (general) factor underlies intelligence and can be assessed through a variety of tests
What is Fluid Intelligence (Gf)
- flexible and adaptive thinking draw inferences, understands relationships between concepts
- innate: independent of experience
- ability to reason and solve problems in unique and novel situations
What is Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)
- knowledge: life experience and education in a particular culture
- verbal ability, comprehension, general knowledge
- based partly on fluid intelligence
What is the Dual Component model- Baltes
Mechanics of intelligence- neurophysiology (low level- perceptual speed, spatial orientation), decline with age
Pragmatics of Intelligence- acquired knowledge (verbal, wisdom, practical), improve with age
How does Intelligence change with age in general?
- fluid intelligence declines throughout adulthood (brain changes, less practical has an impact, processing speed)
- crystalized intelligence improves/ is stable
- learning continues but becomes more difficult
- individual differences increase for crystallized intelligence
What is the Seattle Longitudinal Study (SLS)
- PMAT
- sequential designs
- cross-sectional findings differed from longitudinal and initial analyses ( classic aging pattern- age, cohort, time of measurement )
- Gf declined faster than Gc
- Large individual differences
Cohort Effects for studying Intelligence
- quality of education
- technology
- complexity of work
- changes in gender roles
Moderators of Intellectual change (Health)
- health: with age more severe health problems which leads to greater decrease In intelligence (arthritis, cancer, osteoporosis)
- smoking, alcohol abstinence, lack of exercise, low fruits and related to lower scores
Moderators of Intellectual change (Brain Activation)
- prefrontal cortex and fluid intelligence
- lower fluid: more functions over time
- Stronger link with crystallized
Moderators of Intellectual change (Personality)
- bad: anxious
- Positives: open to new experiences, flexible
- environmental-enrichment hypothesis: when you are more open, less decline in fluid intelligence
Making sense of the moderators of intellectual change
- hard to determine cause and effect
- niche picking
- genetic factors play a large role in overall individual differences in IQ but environment plays large role in rate of decline
How to improve fluid intelligence
- training in test taking
Inductive Reasoning training
- gains for up to 7 years
- SLS sample
ACTIVE project
- improvements in memory, reasoning, speed for up to 10 years
Wisdom
-more closely related to pragmatic intelligence: apply intelligence to real -world
What is the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm by Baltes
- expert knowledge In the fundamental pragmatics of life
good Judgement
To become wise…
- general personal characteristics (open to new experiences, flexible, ambiguity, neither strongly extro or intro)
- Specific life experiences
- maybe age
Life planning problems
older- multiple perspectives, compromise recognize limitations
- scores distinct from fluid intelligence
- may be culturally different
Baltes- 5 Criteria for wisdom- related performance
- factual knowledge
- procedural knowledge
- value relativism
- management of uncertainty
- lifespan contextualism
“wisdom” score related to?
- life satisfaction
- affect
- social relationships
depressive thoughts
