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Does Intelligence Decline With Age

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Does Intellectual Functioning Decline With Age? There have been many declarations that intelligence decline with age, thus, it has been an ongoing debate among psychologists worldwide. It is a myth that older adults become less intelligent with age. I do not support the claim that intelligence decline with age, because many research suggests that while fluid intelligence begins to decrease after adolescence, crystallized intelligence enhances throughout adulthood. The changes that may accompany getting older don't necessarily mean that older adults can't perform well in their daily lives. Older adults have reduced learning abilities, sensory abilities, attentional capacities, and exhibit some loss in remembering information. Although certain …show more content…

We have learned in Biology class that brains do shrink as one gets age, particularly the right cerebellum, but intelligence will not decline, in fact it broadens because of continued learning and experiences. Additionally, regular exercise, healthy diet, and low to moderate alcohol intake seem to help the ageing brain. Definitely, one must maintain their physical and mental health in good condition and keep active since they are the best defense against the changes of an ageing brain. However, I think the ability to learn new things may decline very often with older people. For instance, a 50 plus person may have trouble with simple things such as figuring out how to function a flat screen TV or an iPhone 6, while any teenagers would be able to grasp those in minutes. Forgetfulness is a common problem among older adults and is nothing new. Things get difficult to remember as we get older because the pathways leading to the hippocampus deteriorate over the years. Thus, our brains get less effective at writing and storing that information as we get older. It is not complicated to look back on memories our brains have already stored than to create new ones that are just as …show more content…

Scientists and psychologists have divided memory into three types; they are sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Sensory memory has the ability of retaining information for a very short period of time. For example, when he or she glance at something or someone for a couple of seconds or minutes and remembers what it looked like. Short-term memory is also known as primary or active memory. This means the information we are currently aware of or thinking about. It is the "smallest" part of memory, because it cannot retain much information at any one time. The best example is when someone gives you a phone number and you’re forced to memorize it because there is no way to write it down. Thus, short-term memory deteriorates immediately and usually disappears from a person's mind within 30

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