Age Changes and Age Differences

Abstract

ALMOST as soon as objective measures were de-fined which could be used to index intellec-tual abilities and other cognitive functions, re-searchers began to express interest in individual differences on such measures. One of the most persistent of such interests has been the investiga-tion of developmental changes in cognitive be-havior. Most treatments covering age changes in cognitive behavior have closely followed the prev-alent approaches in the description of develop-mental theories. Although great attention has always been paid to early development, and mat-uration during childhood and adolescence is fully described, very little is said about the further de-velopment of intelligence and other cognitive variables during adulthood or senescence. In fact, the concern with age changes in cognitive be-havior during adulthood did not come to be of serious interest to psychologists until it became clear that the I.Q. concept used in age scales was inapplicable for the measurement of intelligence in adults. As a consequence of the work of Wechsler (1944) in developing special measures for the description of the intelligence of adults but also due to the earlier descriptive works of Jones and Conrad (1933) with the Army Alpha and that of the Stanford group working with Miles (1933), it soon became clear that somewhat different conceptual models would be required for the proper understanding of adult cognitive de-velopment. It will be noted that emphasis has been placed upon the term "age changes. " The literature on the psychological studies of aging has long been haunted by a grand confusion between the terms "age change " and "age difference. " This confu-sion has beclouded the results of studies involv-

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