8.1 SOCIAL JUDGMENT PROCESSES Impression Formation • Knowledge Accessibility and Social Judgments ‘ Explanation for Age Differences in Social Judgments 8.2 SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURES AND BELIEFS Understanding Age Differences in Social Beliefs 8.3 SOCIAL JUDGMENTS AND CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS Attributional Biases • How Do We Know? Age Differences in Adjusting Social Judgments 8.4 MOTIVATION AND SOCIAL […]

In the section on training, evidence suggests that a cognitively enriched lifestyle can positively influence intellectual change as we grow older. This suggests that there is promise in develop­ing long-term cognitive enrichment programs to reduce morbidity and dependence in older adults. For example, it may be the case that we can defer the need for […]

We began this chapter with a description of the wisdom of the Dalai Lama. Similarly, a number of folktales recount the wisdom of older characters. For example, caught in a no-win situation with his son-in-law, an old alchemist comes up with an insightful and clever solution on how to turn base elements (dirt) into gold. […]

such as those strongly related to fluid intelligence (Bosman & Charness, 1996; Dixon & Backman, 1995; Kramer & Willis, 2002; Masunaga & Horn, 2001; Morrow et al., 2003). In other words, older adults may be compensating for underlying decline by relying more on their experience. Notice that the different developmental trajecto­ries for expertise and basic […]

Who were the investigators and what was the aim of the study? Fredda Blanchard-Fields, Heather Jahnke, and Cameron Camp (1995) were interested in the link between practical problem solving and post-formal thinking. This is especially true when problems that have an emotional aspect are examined. As they point out, most of the research on practical […]

One of the most important ways in which people use their intellectual abilities is to solve problems. Think for a minute about everyday life and the number of problem-solving situations one encoun­ters in school, on the job, in relationships, driving a car, and so forth. Each of these settings requires one to analyze complex situations […]

A cursory look at the decision making literature initially suggests that older adults demonstrate less effective decision making when the decision­making situation is novel and unfamiliar to them (Chasseigne et al., 1997; Finucane et al., 2002; Mutter & Pliske, 1994; Sanfey & Hastie, 2000). Forexample, older adults have difficulty in deciding how water temperature is […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • What are the characteristics of older adults’ decision making? • What are optimally exercised abilities and unexercised abilities? What age differences have been found in practical problem solving? • What is encapsulation, and how does it relate to expertise? What is the role of experience in expertise? • What is wisdom, and […]

According to Piaget (1970, 1980), intellectual devel­opment is adaptation through activity. We create the very ways in which our knowledge is organized and, ultimately, how we think. Piaget believed that the development of intelligence stems from the emer­gence of increasingly complex cognitive structures. He organized his ideas into a theory of cognitive development that changed […]