Chapter 7: Wisdom
- Some argue that the most advances form of cognition is the capacity for wisdom
- Wisdom reflects a far less quantifiable phenomenon
- Traditional views of intelligence focus mostly on mechanics of intelligence
o Involve cognitive operations like speed, working memory and fluid intelligence
- Baltes believed that older adults become increasingly capable of dealing with higher level
conceptual issues
o Conventional tests using measures of mechanics of intelligence fail to capture
these abilities
- Baltes wisdom model proposes that wise people are experts in the pragmatics of
intelligence
o They can apply their abilities to the solution of real life problems
o Involves growth in this ability to provide insight into life’s many dilemmas
usually those that are psychosocial or interpersonal
- Berlin Wisdom Paradigm
o Wisdom is a form of expert knowledge in the pragmatics of life
 Wisdom evolves in the later years of life
 Become aware of the role of culture in shaping their lives and personalities
(life span contextualization)
 Wise people are less likely to judge others and have a greater appreciation
of individual differences in values and beliefs (value relativism)
 People who are wise have a rich base of factual knowledge
 Also they know a lot about procedural knowledge (how things work)
 Not always emphasized is the ability of wise people to recognize and
manage uncertainty as a fact of life
- Grossmann study made participants rea a story about a life problem and then rated their
responses on 6 dimensions
o Being able to see multiple points of view
o Recognizing that knowledge of any situation is limited
o Making multiple predictions of how the situation may unfold
o Trying to resolve the conflict with compromise
 Older adults found to be better at these than young and middle aged
people
o Found that those with higher scores of wisdom also have lower scores on a
measure of fluid intelligence (support Baltes)
- Cultural influences play a role in wisdom
o Japanese young and middle age wiser than Americans
o Difference not found in OA though
- Wisdom may play a role in facilitating the individuals own adjustment to life
o Higher life satisfaction, lower negative affect, less of a tendency to have
depressive thoughts and better social relationships
- Not all people become wise