How does aging affect a person s ability to learn new material?
Today we understand the old saying, “You can t teach an old dog new tricks,” is a myth. However, the process of aging does affect learning throughout the adult years. A person s general intelligence is composed of two elements technically referred to as “fluid” intelligence and “crystallized” intelligence. Fluid intelligence is biologically and genetically determined. We can refer to this mental horsepower as natural intelligence. Crystallized intelligence is altered by education and experience. In other words, a person s intelligence can be cultivated and nourished. We can refer to this as nurtured intelligence. Both aspects of intelligence increase from birth through adolescence, but natural intelligence begins gradually to decline with age. Nurtured intelligence, on the other hand, continues to increase with more life experience and education. The net effect is that the loss in natural intelligence is offset by the gains in nurtured intelligence. General intelligence remains basical
