Subjects ranged from 60 to 90 years old. (MS)

A review of literature on Piagetian cognitive functioning generally noted lower levels of functioning for elderly subjects than for comparison groups of adults. Several possible interpretations for these age differences were offered. The effects of certain demographic variables on performance were also reviewed and inconsistent results were noted.…

Desirability judgments (values) of 4 personality dimensions (affiliation, autonomy, achievement, nurturance) and 2 control scales were investigated in a total of 120 male and female subjects from 4 different age groups representing childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Clear age and sex differences reflected multiple value systems.…

The classification behavior of male and female college students was compared with that of healthy, well-educated older males and females. On the whole, the results failed to confirm other published evidence maintaining that aging is marked by conceptual deficits or a regressed mode of cognitive functioning. (Author/CS)

Although the ability to conserve number held up well with age, quantity conservation performance was generally lower in the subjects over 65 years of age than in the college and adult age groups. (Author)

The notion that elderly adults respond more slowly than younger adults in order to ensure accuracy was investigated. The Matching Familiar Figures Test was administered to 10 males and 10 females from each of the following age groups: 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70-79 years old. (Author/SS)

This study explore possible explanations for the decline in highly creative contributions in old age. Examined are the role of decrements in specific divergent thinking abilities and the decline in preference for complexity as factors in the decline in creative contributions. (BD)

Formal and familiar materials were used to test Piagetian classification and formal operational abilities in two groups of educated adults: one group aged 30-38 and the other aged 57-82 years. Subjects did not show mastery of the tasks. Results suggest a new model of cognitive lifespan development. (Author/MS)

Explored the relationship between divergent thinking and self-esteem across the adult lifespan. Subjects from 18 to 84 years of age responded to a self-esteem inventory and an exercise in divergent thinking. Self-esteem predicted divergent thinking across age groups, whereas age differences accounted for little variance in divergent thinking.…

Utilizing an interaction-transaction perspective on perceived control within six life situations, a multivariate cohort study investigated patterns of interaction associated with 90 individuals representing different periods along the adult life course; adolescence, adulthood, and retired adulthood. (Author/SS)

The purpose of this study was to examine sex differences of young, middle aged and older adults in creative problem solving and preference for complexity of visual figures and to explore the part that degree of sex role identification might play in this relationship. (Author/MS)

Groups of middle-aged and elderly men and women were compared on three problem solving tasks, including written problems, the 20-questions procedure, and problems administered on a Heuristic Evaluation Problem Programmer. (MS)

Studies the effects of perceptual salience on performance in problems requiring the coordination of information. Subjects were groups of children, younger adults, and older adults. For each of the age groups, those problems containing the most salient information were solved faster and more accurately than problems containing the least salient…

Age correlated differences in locus of control orientation were examined for 306 persons aged 13 to 90 in three areas of activity: intellectual, social and physical. The Locus of Control Inventory for Three Achievement Domains was administered. (MS)

Biological theories of adaptation are used to generate a model of human cognitive development in which physiological and cognitive change in aged persons can be understood as an adaptive stage of development. Related literature is reviewed that focuses on the elderly as information transmitters and on the psychology of "telling."…