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 were asked to think aloud as they constructed the life review for a fictitious woman who was either young, middle aged, or old. The women were aged 25-35, 45-55, and 65-75. Verbatim transcriptions of the protocols were rated on six theorized indicators of a "wise" response: (1) good, insightful judgment and advice about difficult life problems; (2) rich knowledge about life; (3) rich knowledge about life review; (4) contextual thinking; (5) relativistic thinking; and (6) thinking that acknowledges the uncertainties of life. Twelve raters were trained to evaluate the quality of responses against an ideal "wise" person. Overall, only a small number of wise protocols (responses given a top rating on all six scales) were present in the sample. Age differences were minimal, with old subjects not rated significantly lower than middle-aged and young subjects on any of the wisdom-related scales. Old subjects were rated significantly higher than young subjects on the scale for "thinking that acknowledges the uncertainties of life." The study suggests that there is some empirical ground for the adoption of a more balanced view of aging than the one currently prevalent. (Includes 14 pages of references, 21 tables, 8 figures, and appendices in German on the life review interview, rater training, and rating tools.) (CML)