In comparison to young adults, middle-aged and old people show lower scores in intelligence tests and slower response times in elementary cognitive tasks. Whether these well-documented findings can both be attributed to a general cognitive slow-down across the life-span has become subject to debate in the last years. The drift diffusion model can…

The focus of this study was on gifted adults' perceptions of multigenerational giftedness in their families. Participants have been surveyed annually since their high school graduation in 1988. The purpose of the longitudinal study is to gain insight into the career and life development of gifted individuals post-high school. For the present…

Examines age-related predictive relationships among an array of psychometric intellectual ability markers and text recall performance. Women from three age groups (ranging from 21 to 78 years) read and recalled four narratives at three delay intervals and completed a battery of intellectual ability tests. (Author/CB)

Investigates intellectual differences among high-fit young and old and low-fit young and old adult men before and after an exercise program. It is not clear from this study whether improvement in cognitive functioning with exercise is due to physiological or psychological changes or both. (Author/CC)

Obtained a hierarchical factor solution on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) subtest intercorrelations for the nine age groups included in the standardization sample. Findings support the validity of the WAIS-R as a measure of general intelligence and the validity of maintaining separate Verbal and Performance IQs. (Author)

A study of 18 Down Syndrome and 18 other mentally retarded adults found evidence of a significant erosion of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children scores from the third to fourth decades of life. The Block Design subtest was especially vulnerable to performance decline with age in the Down Syndrome adults. (Author/JDD)

A study looked for age differences in the quality of responses to the Life Review Task (LRT), studied the LRT itself as a tool for exploring wisdom and intellectual functioning in adulthood, and considered personality characteristics and life experience as alternative predictors of response quality. Sixty-three West German women of different ages…

The author reviews cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on the status of intelligence in the aging, and finds conflicting conclusions: (1) intelligence does decline as persons grow older; (2) only some aspects decline while others improve; and (3) intelligence does not decline. Certain factors are adduced to suggest that such…

Administered the Raven Progressive Matrices (RPM) to (N=408) individuals in 100 family groups. Scores on all five subtests were highest in the 18-26 age group, decreasing with age. Males scored higher on each subtest in each age group. Performance on the RPM increased with additional years of education. (Author)

Platelet serotonin (5HT) levels of 5 autistic subjects (ages 16-37) who had siblings with either autism or pervasive developmental disorder were significantly higher than levels of 23 autistic subjects without affected siblings. Autistic subjects without affected siblings had 5HT levels significantly higher than 10 normal controls. Sex, age, and…

Army alpha longitudinal data on the same 96 males tested in 1919, 1950, and 1960 were analyzed in addition to data on 123 undergraduates tested in 1972-4. Young adults in 1919 and 1970 were similar. Results suggest that traditional factor analysis taxonomies for young adults misrepresent elderly persons. (Author/CP)

This study of employment outcomes of 869 Illinois supported employees, primarily with mental retardation or mental illness, found that minority-status employees were younger, had higher intelligence quotients, and earned more wages per month than did nonminority supported employees. Few differences among minority subgroups (African American,…

This study of 501 children and adults found that subjects with mental retardation or borderline intelligence were less proficient at identifying facial expressions of emotion than were children of average intelligence. Among individuals with mental retardation or borderline intelligence, recognition increased with intelligence quotient. Among…

IN THE LONGITUDINAL BERKELEY GROWTH STUDY, SUBJECTS WERE TESTED AT 16, 18, 21, AND 26 YEARS ON THE WECHSLER-BELLEVUE, AND AT 36 YEARS ON THE WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE, WHICH CONTAIN BOTH VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL SUBSCALES. THE MOST CONSISTENT INCREASES IN MEAN SCORES OVER THE PERIOD WERE IN INFORMATION, VOCABULARY, AND COMPREHENSION. DIGIT…