Experience, Personality, and IQ: Adolescence to Middle Age

The stability of general intelligence from early adulthood to middle-age

“…The Owens study shows an increase mainly in verbal skills and no significant increase on subtests such as Following Directions, Arithmetical Problems and Number Series Completion (Owens, 1953). Results from the Intergenerational study (Eichorn et al, 1981) show an increase in both verbal and non-verbal test scores. Results from the Concordia study (Arbuckle et al, 1998) on the other hand show an increase in one verbal subtest (Vocabulary) and a decrease in another (Verbal Analogies), while scores on three non-verbal subtests (Picture Completion, Picture Anomalities, Paper Formboard) decreased.…”

“…It is beyond the scope of this article to present a thorough review of the extensive longitudinal research that followed, so it will have to suffice to mention that several more recent studies have confirmed that individual differences in measures of mental ability are relatively stable in adulthood (Arbuckle, Maag, Pushkar, & Chaikelson, 1998;Deary, Whalley, Lemmon, Crawford, & Starr, 2000;Eichorn, Hunt, & Honzik, 1981;Hertzog & Schaie, 1986;Plassmann et al, 1995;Schwartzman, Gold, Andres, Arbuckle, & Chaikelson, 1987).…”

Is Spirituality Detrimental to Generativity?

“…The original sample was a representative sample of newborn babies in Berkeley (California) in 1928/1929 (the Berkeley Guidance Study), and of preadolescents (ages 10-12) selected from elementary schools in Oakland (California) in 1931 and who were born in 1920/1921 (the Oakland Growth Study). Both samples were combined into a single study in the 1960s (Eichorn, Hunt, and Honzik 1981). The participants were studied intensively in childhood and adolescence and interviewed in-depth four times in adulthood: in early adulthood (age 30s; interview conducted in 1958/1959), middle adulthood (age 40s; 1970), late-middle adulthood (age 50s/early 60s; 1982), and late adulthood, when the participants were in their late 60s or mid-to-late 70s (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000).…”

A Review and Extension of Current Models of Dynamic Criteria

“…Research examining the stability of abilities (see Anastasi and Urbina 1997;Bee 1996 for reviews) has shown that general cognitive ability is relatively stable through middle age and only declines in late life. Indeed, longitudinal research (e.g., Eichorn, Hunt and Honzik 1981;Schaie 1986, 1988;Schaie 1994) has suggested that individual differences in g are highly stable over extended periods whereas more specific abilities vary in their stability. Performance on intellectual tasks that are speeded, performance-based, or involving fluid intelligence show greater decrements and at younger ages whereas intellectual tasks that are unspeeded, verbal, or involving crystallized intelligence remain stable longer, not demonstrating decrements until the seventies (Bee 1996).…”