Later Adulthood: Cognition
QUICK LOOK AT THE CHAPTER AHEAD
A growing percentage of the U.S. population is living into their 80s and 90s.
Cognitive performance encompasses many components that manifest both gain and loss.
Various cognitive abilities show changes with increasing age.
The distinction between cognitive mechanics and cognitive pragmatics helps to identify those functions that decline and those that remain stable.
The memories of older adults vary in different situations.
TERMS
Cognitive mechanics
Cognitive pragmatics
Long-term memory
Short-term memory
Speed of response
Today, people who reach the age of 65 have a good chance of surviving into their 80s, with a 25% chance of making it to age 90. But it is the quality of these years that concerns most individuals as they approach later adulthood. Horror stories abound about the decline of cognitive abilities during the 60s, 70s, and 80s (even 90s), but fortunately recent studies (such as the Seattle Longitudinal Study) paint a more promising picture. They clearly show that individuals who maintain their levels of cognitive functioning continue to engage in mental activities, whether it is careful reading of newspapers, doing crossword puzzles, or facing new challenges (such as learning to use a computer).
Today, people who reach the age of 65 have a good chance of surviving into their 80s, with a 25% chance of making it to age 90.
COGNITIVE CHANGE: FACT OR FICTION?Paul Baltes, long a thoughtful commentator on life span development, has proposed a division between those intellectual properties that decline and those that remain stable in later life. Specifically, he has suggested a division between cognitive mechanics and cognitive pragmatics. Cognitive mechanics refers to the structure of the brain and those areas that control such functions as speed of response, visual memory, and motor memory, which tend to decline in later adulthood. Cognitive pragmatics (e.g., language skills, acquired skills), by contrast, tend to retain good performance and may even improve in later adulthood.
Paul Baltes, long a thoughtful commentator on life span development, has proposed a division between those intellectual properties that decline and those that remain stable in later life. Specifically, he has suggested a division between cognitive mechanics and cognitive pragmatics. Cognitive mechanics refers to the structure of the brain and those areas that control such functions as speed of response, visual memory, and motor memory, which tend to decline in later adulthood. Cognitive pragmatics (e.g., language skills, acquired skills), by contrast, tend to retain good performance and may even improve in later adulthood.Research suggests that as people enter these years, their physical stamina, memory, and cognitive processing do not decline as much as previously thought (for an example of this research, see the discussion of the Seattle Longitudinal Study). Although some aspects of cognitive functioning (e.g., speed of processing) lose a degree of efficiency, such losses in a healthy 60-, 70-, or 80-year-old are more than offset by gains in knowledge and skill due to greater experience.
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