Problemset
Title
Essay Questions
Introductory
Text
Question 1
What is intelligence?
Hint:
Think not only of IQ tests
Type:
Feedback: pp. 148-151 and 156-158 Your answer should give the general definition, talk
Essay
Question 2
Type:
Essay
about the g factor, emphasize that there are different types of intelligence and
also about more recent views of aspects of real world intelligence. Your
answer will probably be fairly long.
Why did early researchers believe that intelligence declined with age? What was wrong with
this early research and what does more recent research show?
Hint:
Think about cross-sectional and sequential designs.
Feedback: pp. 151-154 You should have discussed the very convincing data gathered
from large numbers of army recruits, the difficulties in separating age and
cohort effect with this type of design, and the sequential design employed by
Schaie.
Question 3
What factors play some role in obtained deficits in intelligence with advanced age?
Hint:
Type:
Essay
Question 4
Feedback: pp. 153-156 You need to discuss terminal drop as a potential factor, gender,
health, and environment.
Type:
What is meant by real world intelligence? Is it related to IQ scores? Does it increase with
age?
Hint:
Are you able to get the landlord to fix that broken heater?
Essay
Feedback: pp. 156-158 You should talk about the four aspects of real world intelligence
and discuss some of the research that has found a strong association with IQ
and research that has not found such a strong association.
Question 5
Type:
Essay
Grandpa has had a lot of experience and you might think he would be very good at solving
most kinds of problems, but he's not. What kinds of problems do you expect him to solve
very well and what kinds do you think he'll have difficulties with? Why is he better at some
kinds but doesn't perform as well with other kinds?
Hint:
What problems is he experienced with and what kinds are new for him?
Feedback: pp. 158-159 You should distinguish between abstract and practical problems.
Generally older adults do well with practical problems because they've had a
lot of practical experience. Abstract problems are novel and more difficult. You
could relate your answer to what you've learned about fluid intelligence and
working memory (Chap. 7).
Question 6
Type:
Create your own example of an adult (older or younger) using selective optimization with
compensation.
Hint:
You need an adult who can no longer do everything they used to be able to do.
Essay
Feedback: pp. 159-160 Think first about a job that requires a number of different skills.
Create an older adult who has lost some of those skills but not others (perhaps
due to vision or hearing problems or arthritis or some other chronic condition).
Show how this person would select aspects of the job that could still be done,
optimize their performance on those aspects (how would they do this?), and
use some compensation (a cane, a larger font, a hearing aid) to aid her/his
performance.
Question 7
Type:
Essay
What is expertise and what kind of expertise is wisdom? What is the main factor thought to
contribute to the development of expertise? What other factors contribute to the
development of wisdom?
Hint:
Think about something you're very good at and how you got so good.
Feedback: pp. 160-164 The major factor is, of course, practice. Who has had more
practice at life? Does one develop expertise at chess by practicing batting?
The experience must be the right kind of experience. What is the third factor in
the development of wisdom?
Question 8
Describe how wisdom is measured in research.
Hint:
What do they have people do and what do they look for in their answers?
Type:
Feedback: pp. 162-164 People are given hypothetical problems to solve and their
Essay
responses are monitored (by who?) to measure the five components (see
Figure 8-4) of wisdom.
Question 9
Does creativity change with age? Support your answer with research findings.
Hint:
Creativity has been measured in 3 main ways.
Type:
Feedback: pp. 164-168 Select an answer. The work on divergent thinking can be used to
Essay
support the claim that creativity declines or can be discounted because of the
time limits on those tests. Lehman's work suggests a decline, in most
disciplines, after age 40 but there are many exceptions and the work has been
criticized. The case study approach generally supports the claim that there is
no decline but there may be changes in type of creativity.
Question 10
Do IQ, real world intelligence, problem solving, expertise, wisdom, and creativity decline
with age?
Type:
Hint:
Essay
Feedback: The answer is, of course, that there are gains and losses throughout the life
span. Some aspects of IQ and problem solving decline; expertise and wisdom
seem to improve; creativity seems relatively stable. Your answer might also
include a brief discussion of cohort effects, problems of measurement, and
other (e.g., health) contributing factors.