© 1993 The Gerontological Society of America
The Aging Mind: Potential and Limits1
2 Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education Berlin, Germany
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Abstract |
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Research on the aging mind has moved from a simple growth vs decline view to a conception of a joint consideration of potential and limits. This development is illustrated by research on two categories of cognitive functioning: the cognitive mechanics and the cognitive pragmatics. The cognitive mechanics (comparable to fluid intelligence) are primarily determined by the evolution-based neurophysiological architecture of the mind, whereas the cognitive pragmatics (comparable to crystallized intelligence) primarily reflect the impact of culture. Testing-the-limits research on basic memory serves as a prototypical instantiation of the aging of cognitive mechanics; research on wisdom and the cognitive management of the self are prototypical examples of the aging of cognitive pragmatics. In the cognitive mechanics, as one would expect from a phenomenon which is largely genetically and biologically controlled, there is definite aging loss. Conversely, in the cognitive pragmatics, which is primarily culture-based, there is evidence for stability and positive change in persons who reach old age without specific brain pathology, and who live in favorable life circumstances. A model of successful aging, selective optimization with compensation, is presented to illustrate how individuals and societies might effectively manage the age-related shift toward a less positive balance between gains and losses and the associated dynamics between culture-based growth and biology-based decline in level of functioning.
Keywords: Cognitive aging, Wisdom, Successful aging, Testing-the-limits
1 This article is based on the 1992 Kleemeier Award Lecture presented at the 45th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC, November 20,1992.
The author expresses his special appreciation for longstanding and continued intellectual support and collegiality to Margret M. Baltes, Gilbert Brim, David L. Featherman, John R. Nesselroade, Matilda W. Riley, K. Warner Schaie, and Sherry L. Willis. He also thanks his current colleagues at the Berlin Max Planck Institute for their most generous research collaboration and valuable comments on an earlier draft of this article.
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