Age changes in psychometric intelligence are well documented, but the ways in which adults differ in the process of solving intelligence test items is poorly understood. The proposed research uses recently elaborated models of psychometric test performance from cognitive psychology (component models of intelligence) to study age differences in problem solving strategies and application of basic information processing skills to psychometric test problems. The goal is the development of an elaborated description of intelligence test performance in adult populations which may prove useful in measuring patterns and predictors of individual differences in intellectual change over the life span. The study emphasizes an individual differences perspective, and seeks to identify qualitatively different patterns of component-psychometric test relationships in different individuals. The research differentiates information processing speed in multiple skill components from other sources of individual differences in psychometric performance, and tests the hypothesis that individual differences in cognitive speed account for adult age differences in psychometric test scores.
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