For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222

INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN AGING ADULTS.
  Term Paper ID:29172 		Get This Paper Free! or
Essay Subject:
Describes adult intellectual development.... More...
7 Pages / 1575 Words
5 sources, 7 Citations, APA Format
$28.00

More Papers on This Topic


Paper Abstract:
Describes adult intellectual development. Its relevance as a field of discipline for the 21st Century. The graying of the American population. Impact of an aging population. Models of adult development. Lifespan developmental psychology and changes in human behavior. Findings of the Seattle Longitudinal Study. Studies on wisdom. Importance of lifetime learning.

Paper Introduction:
DESCRIPTION OF ADULT INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY Introduction The purpose of this paper is to describe adult intellectual development as a field of discipline in the 21st century. The paper begins with an examination of the graying of the American population during this century and discusses the relevance of the discipline for the continuing shift in the age distribution as the 21st century progresses. Adult Intellectual Development is then defined as a field of inquiry and its foundational framework is briefly delineated. There is also some discussion of seminal work in the field. Finally, the paper discusses a few areas of research that are likely to become increasingly important as the century develops. Description

Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.


Description Baltes, Lindenberger and Staudinger (1998) report that projectionsfor the year 2 3 (the year when the last of the baby boomers turn 65),show dramatic changes in the age distribution of the United States. One area of research into adult development isintellect. There is no uniform pattern of age-related change acrossintellectual ability. DESCRIPTION OF ADULT INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY Introduction The purpose of this paper is to describe adult intellectualdevelopment as a field of discipline in the 21st century. 1 . What may be expected as the 21st century continues is ongoingresearch on wisdom as it relates to intellectual and cognitive development.In this regard, several questions need to be explored. Thus, it is not confined toany one age group, but rather a quality that emerges when people are facedwith diverse life issues. However, moreand more adults are electing to maintain their cognitive status by goingback to school. (pp. Indeed, the most rapidlygrowing segment of the American population, according to Baltes et. This increase willplace major strains on social security, other pension systems, health carecosts, and the costs of other human services. Are there other waysto define wisdom, ways in which it is more thoroughly connected tointellectual and cognitive growth? (1992). In M. Fillit & R. References Baltes, P. Their study of a sample of well-educatedGerman professionals of all ages (25-81 years of age) was said to suggestthat there are age specific peaks in wisdom. Papalia (2 ) reports that through a focus on life-time learning,older people can learn new skills and information. Schaie, K. (1998). The paper beginswith an examination of the graying of the American population during thiscentury and discusses the relevance of the discipline for the continuingshift in the age distribution as the 21st century progresses. The answers to eachand every one of these questions will have great importance during thiscentury in terms of helping society to meet the needs of a large olderpopulation. Observed declines in the cognitive functioning of many community-dwelling older people are probably a function of disuse and are oftenreversible. In R. N. In this regard, change is said to occur in two forms. Among the many questions asked by those involved in the 21st centuryexploration of Adult Intellectual Development are the following: (1) Whatis intelligence and how is it appropriately measured: (2) What are thevariations in terms of peaks and declines in adult intelligence? 2. Asresearch and knowledge progresses in this area, late adulthood may nolonger be a time of intellectual decline. A key question here is: Is the United States prepared to meet thechanging age distribution of the American population in the 21st century?Clearly, one way to prepare ourselves is to refine and elaborate on ourmodels of adult development as this will provide a general context in whichwe may better understand how to meet the needs associated with the shift inthe age distribution. Adult Intellectual Development as it is conceptualized in the 21stcentury rests on the framework of lifespan developmental psychology which,according to Papalia (2 ) is the study of changes in human behavior thatoccur as a result of developmental processes such as maturation andexperience. 7. Themagnitude of similarity for different abilities is closest between parentand child (as opposed to siblings). In terms of seminal work in the field, the most extensive researchavailable on intellectual development in adulthood is the SeattleLongitudinal Study, begun in 1956 by Schaie and updated every seven years(See: Schaie, 1998). Still,even at 81 years of age, fewer than half of subjects show reliabledecrements within seven years. Declines in psychometric abilities are not reliably observedbefore 6 years of age but are reliably observed by 74 years of age. The rate and magnitude of changes in intelligence in thoseentering into old age show a greater decline in the first three cycleswhile at the same time, younger members of the study are scoring lower ontests at the same age (possible generational difference). Risk of cognitive decline can be reduced by several factorsincluding: the absence of chronic diseases; the presence of a complex andintellectually stimulating environment; a flexible personality style at mid-life; high intellectual status of spouse; and maintenance of high levels ofperceptual processing speed. 3. Intelligence and intellectual or cognitive development andfunctioning tend to be qualitative changes. W. There is a great deal of similarity in intellectual functioning.between parents and their adult children and between siblings for virtuallyall mental abilities and measures of flexibility with the exceptions ofattitudes related to social responsibility and perceptual speed. AdultIntellectual Development is then defined as a field of inquiry and itsfoundational framework is briefly delineated. M. The Seattle longitudinal studies of adultintelligence. Human development (8th ed.) NY: McGraw-Hill. (3) Whatfactors affect a person's intelligence during adulthood?; (4) What are thegenerational differences and within-generation differences in intelligencein adulthood?; and (5) How should science establish sufficient competencefor independent living in the later stages of life? First,there is quantitative change consisting of the changes in number or amountof something such as changes in weight, height or other purely physicalprocesses. Change in perceptual speed begins in young adulthood and declinesin linear fashion. Rather, the discipline focuses on theentire lifespan from young adulthood into advanced old age. & Staudinger, U. The hope here is that with training, practice, and social support, olderadults will increasingly be able to draw upon their mental reserves. In thisregard, the authors state that even the first decade of the 21st century isexperiencing a growth of older adults as a major political and economicforce which will only increase as the century unfolds. It is the findings of the Seattle Longitudinal Study that have shapedmost current theoretical thought on adult human development. In terms of future trends in Adult Intellectual Development, Papalia(2 ) states that in the 21st century, the field is going to be using itstheory and research (such as that conducted in the Seattle LongitudinalStudy) toward helping older people to improve their intellectualperformance and that, therefore, continuing research on "plasticity"(variability and modifiability in performance) will be a substantialelement of the field of adult intellectual development in the 21st century. There is at least partial support for the idea that abilitieswhich are primarily genetically determined tend to decline earlier thanabilities acquired through training; however, after age 7 , abilitiesacquired through training decline more steeply. However, perhaps the most interesting work in the field of adultintellectual development during the 21st study will be its research andtheory on wisdom. The discipline of Adult Intellectual Development concerns itself withintellectual functioning of adults as they age (Schaie, 1997). These findingsare, therefore, important to understanding the field and notions aboutAdult Intellectual Development as conceptualized in the 21st century. M. 6. Wisdom has, in myth and folklore, traditionally beenassociated with older age. Data are also collected from siblings and adultchildren to determine family similarity. London: Grenwich Medical Media. It is felt these differences reflect educational changes. NY: University Press. Life spantheory in developmental psychology. In brief, the findings of this seminal research (as currently madeavailable) are as follows: 1. Baltes, P. W. 4. (1998). 5. There are substantial cohort/generational differences inintellectual functioning. 263-271). The size of observed declines in intellectual functioning aresignificantly reduced when age changes in perceptual speed are taken intoaccount. But what is wisdom and how can science recognizea "wise" response to life? Finally, the paper discusses a few areas ofresearch that are likely to become increasingly important as the centurydevelops. InH. Lerner (ed.), Handbook ofchild psychology: Vol 1. In thisregard, Schaie (1997)points out that examination of adult intellectualdevelopment does not merely concern itself with the aging of intellectualabilities in older or elderly people. There is also some discussionof seminal work in the field. 8. B., Smith, J., & Staudinger, U. Later-born groups have successively higher scoresat the same ages for inductive reasoning, verbal meaning, and spatialorientation; however, they score successively lower in number skill andword fluency. And, most importantly, how can thewisdom of older people be applied to the problems of the elderly in 21stcentury society? al isthat of people 85 years of age or older which is expected to increase 4 percent from 1995 to 2 5 . E. Salthouse (Eds.) Essentialpapers on the psychology of aging. 9-21). (1997). Theoretical models of human development. The second is qualitative change or changes in kind, structureor organization. 9. Finally, adult intellectual development as a field of scientificinquiry, was in the last century and will in the 21st century increasinglyapplied to the area of life-long learning. Subject mortality isabout 5 percent per year. A total of 4,957 adults have participated in thisstudy; of these, 7 have been examined since 1956. And the intellectual activityengaged in can be quite diverse in scope such as reading, conversing,crossword puzzles, games like bridge or chess, and so forth. (2 ). NY:Wiley. M. Schaie, K. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 39, 39, 123-167. Butler (Eds.), Cognitive decline: Strategies forprevention (pp. Wisdom andsuccessful aging. Powell Lawton & Timothy A. B., Lindenberger, H. For example, doesthe foregoing definition of wisdom seem appropriate? Normal cognitive development in adulthood. Papalia, D. Indeed, Papalia (2 ) reportsthe principal findings in the field with respect to aging and intellectualfunctioning is "use it or lose it." Ongoing cognitive activity andstimulation during adulthood development has been found, Papalia states, tomaintain strong intellectual performance. Thus the relevance ofAdult Intellectual Development for lifelong learning is that 21st centuryresearch in the field will be increasingly examining for the best methods,techniques, and strategies for fostering the learning of older and evenelderly adults. In their foundational studies on wisdom Baltes, Smith and Staudinger(1992) defined wisdom in terms of expert knowledge in life planning, lifemanagement and life review.

If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:

Search for:

or

We can write a Custom Essay just for you.


Browse Essays by Subject