The Interplay of Growth and Decline

Abstract

Abstract As cognitive aging researchers, we care for our subjects. Most scientists and practitioners do, of course, but there seems to be a quite inordinate amount of sympathizing in cognitive aging circles. I usually look very much forward to testing people from our older adult research panel—they are so much different from the typical undergraduate student, who breezes into the lab and seems to want nothing more than to breeze out as quickly as possible. We get acquainted over a cup of coffee, and I usually get to hear some pretty interesting stories (thanks to my research subjects, I know more about nuclear waste management than is good for my sense of security, I have an inkling of the usefulness of Bach sonatas for the beginning piano player, and I will never consider a career switch to operating high-rise cranes). It is always quite distressing to see how these interesting, highly motivated, and articulate human beings then struggle with the cognitive tasks set before them—they certainly do not breeze through. This contrast between high performance in daily life and less than optimal performance in the laboratory has not been lost on most researchers in the field. Our laboratory data and our theories about basic effects of aging on cognition say one thing (decline, growing inflexibility, powerlessness); our hearts, and also our eyes, say another (accumulated experience, openness to life, potential).

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