Introduction
As they grow up, individuals set various goals for themselves, which may later change as factors in their lives change. The study of this process can provide insight into several important cognitive features that shape transformations in individuals’ worldviews and goal setting. These processes include crystallized and fluid intelligence, working memory, intrinsic motivation, and post-formal thoughts. Therefore, this research offers an opportunity to delve deeper into the concepts of cognitive development, examining them in depth to better understand their significance in individuals’ lives.
To illustrate the concepts and make them more relevant, examples from interviews with participants will be presented throughout the work. The first respondent was Mia, a 23-year-old mother. The second respondent was Bonita, a 60-year-old woman. The main question that was asked of the women during the interview was, “Have any of your life goals recently changed and why?” By answering this inquiry, examples of the implementation of each of the previously mentioned phenomena of cognitive development in human life were identified.
Crystalized Intelligence
The first aspect to consider is crystallized intelligence, an individual’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills. This phenomenon refers to the processes that cause cognitive development in middle adulthood. That is, this concept refers to individuals’ ability to retrieve, use, and analyze information acquired throughout life for processes such as decision-making and problem-solving. One notable trait of crystallized intelligence is its capacity to grow and enhance throughout one’s lifetime. The uniqueness of this aspect is that for all individuals, this process ends at different stages of cognitive development in middle adulthood.
Therefore, utilizing crystallized intelligence depends on individuals drawing on their past experiences and accumulated knowledge throughout their lives. As an example of this feature of cognitive development, Bonita can be given. The woman is 60 years old, indicating she has extensive life experience that guides her decisions.
Hence, answering the question, she uses her crystallized intelligence to reflect on her life goals and experiences over time. She said, “Before, I had goals as an individual,/ But now, since I have had a child, my goals align more with making sure my children are my priority.” In this way, she shows that she is fully aware of how her life has been transformed and how it has affected her course and goals.
Fluid Intelligence
The following concept is fluid intelligence, or the ability to reason abstractly, which steadily declines from middle adulthood onward. During this stage of adulthood, this facet of cognitive development suggests that individuals can make decisions and solve problems through logic and reasoning (Salas et al., 2021). Thus, unlike crystallized intelligence, it is not based on facts and information derived from experience but on individuals’ cognitive abilities. The transformation of this aspect of cognitive development is largely influenced by the decline individuals experience in middle adulthood, driven by changes in the brain’s functions and structure. Furthermore, fluid intelligence can decline due to insufficient mental activity during life, which is crucial for its effective functioning.
Examples of fluid intelligence can be found in the interviews conducted with the participants. Mia stated, “Before I had goals as an individual, such as finishing college, gaining a career, purchasing a starter home/But now my goals align more with making sure my children are my priority.” Thus, this statement shows that the young woman can assess her life situation and identify which aspects are most important and relevant at a given time. Regarding Bonita, she said, “My life goals had changed because my husband had gotten sick, and my daughter had moved back in, so I had to stop.” In this case, fluid intelligence helped her make the right decision.
Working Memory
Working memory is closely related to short-term memory but emphasizes mental effort. It can be considered a mental workbench where individuals can manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and deciphering written and spoken language. This aspect of cognitive development in middle adulthood involves retaining information while performing a task or solving a problem and improves over time. At the same time, it also has characteristics such as the ability to deteriorate with aging and to impair human brain function. The degree of this decrease largely depends on the internal and external factors for each individual.
Both respondents showed effective working memory skills during the interview. As already mentioned, this aspect involves active mental engagement in answering the question and providing relevant information. Hence, Bonita clearly explained the reasons why her goal changed, pointing out, “My husband had gotten sick, and my daughter had moved back in, so I had to stop going to school.” Mia has also shown that her working memory enables her to make decisions and answer questions. Therefore, she clearly stated her goals and priorities during the interview. She said, “So my priority would be raising my children, making sure they are in a stable setting versus pursuing my education further.”
Instinct Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is a cognitive developmental process in early adulthood that involves discussing what motivates a person to pursue a goal. A distinctive feature of this process is the fact that it is not a habituated or imposed phenomenon. It differs in that it carries an innate character; that is, it consists of fixed patterns of behavior inherent in groups of individuals.
In this case, both women are mothers for whom the welfare of children has come first, not circumcision. Mia and Bonita pointed out, “Before I had goals as an individual, such as finishing college, gaining a career, and purchasing a starter home. But now, since I’ve had a child, my goals align more with making sure my children are my priority.” This process is important in the development of individuals, as it provides an opportunity to understand better the goals, decisions, and direction they want their lives to take.
Post-Formal Thoughts
Post-formal thought is reflective, relativistic, contextual, provisional, realistic, and influenced by emotions. This feature is typical of the cognitive development stage of early adulthood. It makes a special contribution to individual development by shaping decision-making and life prioritization. In other words, post-formal thinking implies reflective thinking and may vary depending on a person’s context and background (Santrock, 2021).
Hence, Mia says that she will continue her education “if needed, but as of right now, it has not been on my mind!” On the other hand, Bonita wants to obtain her degree: “Now that my kids are grown, it is a priority for me to get my degree.” Thus, this example shows that, after weighing all the factors, Mia has decided not to continue her studies for the time being, and Bonita’s grown-up children release her from work and allow her to continue studying.
Conclusion
The main aspect of cognitive development in adulthood is how much it can change in response to various factors. This feature concerns both crystallized and liquid intelligence, as well as working memory and post-formal thinking. Only instinctive motivation carries an innate character and does not depend on external factors. I expected to find valuable information about different types of intelligence, which helped deepen my understanding of the main differences between them.
I believe interviews might have been different if I had interviewed people in a different age range, for example, 23 and 43. This is because, in this work, the difference in respondents’ ages is quite significant, which leads to different questions. However, if this gap were different, some of the answers might change. At the same time, it is worth remembering the role of the context of growing up and development in shaping individuals’ responses.
References
Salas, N., Escobar, J., & Huepe, D. (2021). Two sides of the same coin: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence as cognitive reserve predictors of social cognition and executive functions among vulnerable elderly people. Frontiers in Neurology, 12.
Santrock, J. W. (2021). Essential life span development (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.