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Block 4 Unit 2 Cognitive Changes - Early Adulthood, Middle Age, Old Age

1. Discuss critically the cognitive changes in early adulthood.

• Early adulthood is a time of significant cognitive development, with individuals becoming more adept at realistic and pragmatic thinking.
• While Piaget believed that young adults were quantitatively more advanced (possessing more knowledge), he suggested that they are still qualitatively similar to adolescents in their thinking.
• Young adults increase their knowledge in specific areas.
• There is a transition from dualistic, absolute thinking to more reflective, relativistic thinking. Adolescents tend to see things in polar opposites, while adults are more likely to consider multiple perspectives and understand that the correct answer to a problem may vary depending on the situation.
• Young adults rely less on logical analysis when solving problems and move towards integrating their thought processes, focusing their energy on finding their place in society and the workplace.
• Cognitive abilities are strong during this period and logical skills do not decline.

2. What are the important cognitive changes that come about in middle adulthood?

• Middle adulthood involves changes in cognitive functioning related to intelligence, information processing, and memory.
• Cognitive development is multidirectional, with gains in some areas and losses in others.
• While cross-sectional studies may indicate a decline in intelligence with age, longitudinal studies suggest an increase, at least until the 50s.
• There is a decline in fluid intelligence (the ability to see relationships and use abstract reasoning), but crystallized intelligence (the ability to use knowledge and experience) continues to grow.
• Individuals in middle age show a growth in knowledge based on their expertise.
• The reaction time may slow down, which could affect performance on some IQ tests.
• Middle aged adults often examine their lives for meaning.

3. How does old age affect cognitive development?

• Cognitive development in old age is generally characterised by loss of cognitive abilities as people move closer to the end of life.
• Response speeds decline due to changes in neural and motor functions.
• There is an age-related decrease in working memory that affects performance on cognitive tasks.
• Older adults use selective optimisation with compensation, focusing on valued activities and finding ways to compensate for losses.
• Mentally active people are more likely to maintain their cognitive abilities
• Retirement can bring changes in cognitive abilities depending on how the time is spent.
• Memory failure increases due to slower information intake, less effective use of memory strategies, and difficulties in retrieving information from long-term memory. They also forget context that is helpful for recall.
• Recognition memory does not decline as much as free recall
• Fluid intelligence declines while crystallized intelligence has been shown to rise slightly.
• Cognitive performance can be improved with remedial training.

4. Compare age differences in implicit and explicit memory.

• Implicit memory, which is memory without conscious awareness, is not discussed in detail in the given sources.
• Explicit memory, which involves conscious recall, is discussed in the context of age-related decline, with recognition being less affected than recall.
• The sources imply that age-related differences are more noticeable in tasks involving explicit memory due to slower processing speed and more problems with retrieval.

5. How does each part of the information processing system such as the sensory register, short term and long-term memory knowledge base etc.?

The information processing model is as follows:

• Sensory Register: This is where information first enters our minds. It is a brief holding tank before information is attended to.
• Short-Term Memory (Working Memory): This memory system has a limited capacity and can hold about seven items at a time. Information must be rehearsed, moved to long-term memory, or forgotten.
• Long-Term Memory: Stores information for long periods and is like a library of all information a person has.
• Knowledge Base: This refers to the accumulated knowledge that a person has, which is drawn from when new information is being processed.

Age-related changes affect the speed and efficiency of these systems. Older adults show slower processing speeds, difficulties with inhibiting irrelevant information and retrieving important information from long-term memory.

Important Points

• Young Adults is the time of freedom and when they find a sense of independence. 
• As youth mature, dualistic thinking is replaced by multiple thinking.
• Crystallized intelligence is at its peak during middle adulthood.
• Creativity involves the capacity to be flexible and innovative when dealing with new situations.
• Fluid intelligence refers to our ability to see relationships, use abstract reasoning and analyse information.
• Realistic thinking means looking at all aspects of situations before making conclusions.
• Cognitive development is multidimensional.
• Religion and spirituality is an important dimension of life during middle adulthood.
• The study of the process of ageing and the ageing population is called gerontology.
• Ageism is defined as the prejudice that occur on the basis of age.
• Implicit memory is the memory without conscious awareness.
• Remote memory is a very long term recall.
• Prospective memory is remembering to do planned activities in the future.