A Research on Adult Intelligence and Aging

Adult Wisdom and Aging

Adult wisdom and aging are of special concern since an adult’s body does not develop much more until reaching adulthood. Adult knowledge and aging analysis were performed in stages during the twentieth century in order to produce definitive findings. However, the various phases of the study reflected opposing views on adult age and intelligence. Each stage of the study is correlated with a specific perspective on benefit in society. This paper outlines the four stages of a study that reflect opposing views on aging and adult intelligence. The 1920s to mid-1950s was the period when the first phase of the research about aging and the intelligence of adults was conducted (Kaufman, 2017). According to this phase, the society valued the youth more than the aging population. The society was keen on the acquisition of new skills by the youth who are robust and energetic. The youth was viewed to be the future of the society. Aging was viewed as a phase of unavoidable decline. During this phase, the hill metaphor concept predominated which describes development as the act of climbing a hill while aging as the act of descending a hill.

The Second Phase of Research

The second phase of this research falls between the late 1950s to mid-1960s. This phase of research noted some contradictions on the former phase concerning aging and intelligence of adults. Unlike the former phase, aging is not always viewed as a function of linear decline. This phase suggests the existence complex relationship between adult aging and intelligence. Improved social attitudes by the society towards the aged people were noted. The integration of society demands and personal needs help in resolving the developmental task of various age periods. At old age, life seems meaningless since it is marked by a sense of despair (Jeste, 2010).

The Third Phase of Research

The third phase of the research from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s mainly involved experimentation. This phase of research denoted the inevitable intellectual decline of the aged by arguing that the earlier phases focused on tests designed for children and not older adults, and instead formulate interventions that affect the process of aging. According to Jeste (2010), elderly people should substitute new roles for those lost in old age so as to maintain a positive sense of self. Unexpected events such as accidents may have negative developmental consequences. Elderly people have different coping capacities to deal with stresses and accepting changing life situations Jeste (2010).

The Fourth Phase of Research

The fourth phase which is from the mid-1970s extensively borrows from the third phase modifiability of intelligence. Researchers explored new intelligence measuring means in adulthood. According to Kaufman (2017), older adults increasingly become powerful and plentiful. The focus is made on the psychodynamics of aging as well as the integration of various biological and sociological perspectives.

Contrasting Perspectives

The different phases of the research represented contrasting perspectives on the aging and the intelligence of adult people. While the first phase viewed aging as an inevitable intellectual deterioration, the second phase had a contrasting view on aging. Instead, aging in the second phase is viewed to have a complex relationship with intelligence. All the phases, however, contain important lessons about the aging and the intelligence of adults.

References

Jeste, D. V., Depp, C. A., &Ipsit, V. V. (2010). Successful cognitive and emotional aging. World Psychiatry, 9(2), 78-84. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2912035/pdf/wpa020078/pdf

Kaufman, D. (2017). Psychological Context. Simon Fraser University, Surrey, British Columbia.