Deck 3: Do Intelligence and Creativity Decline With

Question 1

According to Lehman, individuals who engage in creative work are most likely to produce the highest volume of highest quality work at later years.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Lehman asserts that the modal age at which creative thinkers, leaders, and athletes have reached their peak performance has gradually increased.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

When it comes to the effects of aging on learning and memory, there are many individual differences, or "heterogeneity."

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Dennis argues that Lehman's methodology is flawed.

Question 5

Wisdom is considered to be most like crystallized intelligence and not fluid intelligence.

Question 6

Data summarized by Lehman suggest that the modal ages of peak creativity tend to rise slowly until the mid-30s and then decline rapidly.

Question 7

Fluid intelligence refers to ______.

A) intelligence accumulated from past experience and socialization
B) intelligence that is measured on a verbal and a performance scale
C) pragmatic or social judgment
D) intelligence applied to new tasks or the ability to come up with novel or creative solutions to unforeseen problems
E) none of these

Question 8

Cross-sectional studies of intelligence may reveal differences between young and old people that do not arise from age but from characteristics of different cohorts, including which of the following?

A) Young people are more familiar than old people with test taking.
B) Old people show more test anxiety than young people.
C) Some old people accept the prejudices of ageism and believe that intelligence declines with age.
D) Young people are less cautious than old people and may be more likely to guess at the answer on tests of intelligence.
E) All of these.

Question 9

Findings from recent research on the aging brain suggest which of the following might be true?

A) The brain retains its capacity for making new memories.
B) The brain is more flexible than once thought.
C) Some aging changes in the brain are reversible.
D) Older brains process information in a different way than younger brains.
E) All of these.

Question 10

Intelligence has potential for growth even at advanced ages.

Question 11

According to Lehman, the modal age of leaders (e.g., presidents of American colleges and universities, Supreme Court justices) is greater than that of other highly successful professionals and athletes.

Question 12

Crystallized intelligence refers to ______.

A) intelligence accumulated from past experience and socialization
B) intelligence that is measured on a verbal and a performance scale
C) pragmatic or social judgment
D) intelligence applied to new tasks or the ability to come up with novel or creative solutions to unforeseen problems
E) none of these

Question 13

According to the results of cross-sectional studies, on average older people learn new things more slowly than younger people because ______.

A) Older people lack practice.
B) Older and younger people have different learning styles.
C) Older people may be less motivated to learn new things than younger people.
D) Reaction time is slower in older people compared to younger people.
E) All of these.

Question 14

As a group, older people take longer than younger people to learn new things.

Question 15

Most gerontologists would agree that wisdom inevitably results from aging.

Question 16

The Seattle Longitudinal Study and other research on cognitive function found that the largest average declines in intelligence come after age 60 but that intellectual decline in later life may be reversed.

Question 17

Dennis argues that Lehman (Age and Achievement) may have introduced bias into his study by ______.

A) using as a criterion for inclusion of a work as a "significant contribution" the appearance of the work in lists of "best" books, "best" operas, and so on
B) assessing the importance of work done over several decades, which assumes that standards of excellence in all fields do not change
C) failing to acknowledge that the number of creative workers in all fields has greatly increased, thereby substantially increasing the competition among younger creative workers
D) all of these
E) a and b

Question 18

Dennis agrees with Lehman that the output of high-quality creative work peaks in middle age, followed by an inevitable decline.

Question 19

Research on age and cognitive function has found that the personality changes through adulthood, particularly in response to health problems, economic hardships, and bereavement.

Question 20

The view that intelligence and creativity decline with age is widely shared.

Question 21

Dennis argues that if all of Lehman's methodological problems were corrected and sources of bias were eliminated, the negative relationship between age and creativity would disappear.

Question 22

According to Cohen, historically both science and culture in Western societies have focused on the negative aspects of human aging.

Question 23

According to Carstensen, normal changes in overall cognitive processing begin in a person's 20s and 30s.

Question 24

Discuss Dennis's critique of Lehman's argument that creativity inevitably declines after middle age. Do you agree or disagree with Dennis's skepticism? Explain.

Question 25

Carstensen developed the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST) to address paradoxical results from studies on aging. What are some of these paradoxes and how does SST help us make sense of them?

Question 26

Cohen puts forward the concept of "developmental intelligence." What are the key features of this concept? How might you relate this to your own development or that of an older adult you know?

Question 27

Does creativity decline with age? Use examples from the reading and from your own experience to describe the relationship between creativity and age.

Question 28

How do wisdom and intelligence differ from one another? Does wisdom necessarily develop with advancing age?

Question 29

Older adults show a decided preference in memory and attention for positive information.

Question 30

Levy and Langer come down strongly on the side of the "Life Span Developmental Model" of creativity and aging. Of the two models, the "Life Span Developmental Model" or the "Peak and Decline Model," which model do you feel is most convincing, and why?

Question 31

Once cognitive declines begin, there is very little that can be done to improve intellectual functioning.

Question 32

Cohen asserts that human beings stop developing psychologically at midlife.

Question 33

Discuss the debate surrounding the causes of the classic aging pattern that occurs with intelligence. To what causes do realists attribute this pattern? How does this contrast with the optimists' view? What are the implications of this debate for older adults?

Question 34

Lehman's work Age and Achievement was published in 1953. Consider the historical context during which Lehman conducted his research, and discuss his findings on the relationship between age and achievement. What are some possible explanations for Lehman's findings? If Lehman were to conduct his study in 2016, do you think the findings would be the same?

Question 35

Despite losses in critical capabilities as humans grow older, most older adults experience an improved sense of well-being.

Question 36

Involvement in creative activities may positively influence aging and longevity.

Question 37

Creativity is not only a cognitive process, but it is also affected by the environment in which one lives and societal expectations.

Question 38

Changes in physical functioning associated with aging may lead to an older person developing a new perspective that fuels creativity.

Question 39

According to Cohen, wisdom is the expression of developmental intelligence.