In this longitudinal study, 108 older individuals (M age = 70.58 years, SD = 6.94) estimated the extent to which their fluid and crystallized skills had changed over the previous three years. For each perceived change, individuals also estimated the extent to which numerous explanatory factors were responsible for such change. Crystallized skills were seen as unchanging, whereas fluid skills were perceived as having declined slightly. In both cases, self-initiated efforts to maintain one's skills were endorsed most frequently as explanations for the maintenance of one's skills. Variability in attributions in three-year changes in both fluid and crystallized skills was associated with individual differences in health, self perceived everyday cognitive failures, and state anxiety. The findings from this study suggest that it is important to identify factors over which older adults perceive themselves as having control as salient targets for educational interventions fostering a sense of self-efficacy, critical to feelings of enhanced competence in later life.
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