A strong dependency between changes in fluid and crystallized abilities in human cognitive aging.

ABSTRACT: Theories of adult cognitive development classically distinguish between fluid abilities, which require effortful processing at the time of assessment, and crystallized abilities, which require the retrieval and application of knowledge. On average, fluid abilities decline throughout adulthood, whereas crystallized abilities show gains into old age. These diverging age trends, along with marked individual differences in rates of change, have led to the proposition that individuals might compensate for fluid declines with crystallized gains. Here, using data from two large longitudinal studies, we show that rates of change are strongly correlated across fluid and crystallized abilities. Hence, individuals showing greater losses in fluid abilities tend to show smaller gains, or even losses, i

SUBMITTER: Tucker-Drob EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8809681 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature