This study examines the influence of selected performance factors and social role participation upon Piagetian cognitive funcitoning during the aging years. By administering a battery of concrete and formal reasoning tasks and measures of fluid intelligence, the effects of varying instructional set and age of E on the cognitive performance of 80 community-living elderly female participants were examined. Piagetian reasoning abilities were consistently related to both measures of fluid intelligence. The relationship between performance and social role participation, however, was inconsistent. A subsequent common factor analysis obtained three factors to describe the interrelationships among the measures: a fluid intelligence factor upon which most Piagetian measures loaded; a social participation factor; and an infralogical-experiential factor. The general ineffectiveness of either factor in altering performance may be due to the strong influence of fluid factors upon Piagetian performance. The observed relationship between certain tasks and social role measures suggests the need for a closer examination of requisite skills and possible environmental supports which may facilitate maintenance of certain abilities during the aging years. (Author)