Mental ability over a wide range of adult ages

Abstract

A selection of 641 students was made from a group of 5500 attending the general extension courses at the University of Minnesota. The age range was from 16 to 70. Years of schooling and occupational status were held constant for the various age groups. The Minnesota College Aptitude Test and Reading Examination revealed that the curve for vocabulary ability increases with chronological age and that for paragraph meaning remains relatively constant. Mental habits of use and disuse are presented as possible explanations for the nature of the curves of adult ability in these tests. "Most experiments show a decline of abilities with age because the persons studied were out of practice, so to speak, with the intelligence test content." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)