A Comparison of the Problem-Solving Ability of Young, Middle-Aged and Old Subjects

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Abstract
Three groups of adult male subjects In the twenties, forties and sixties respectively, matched for non-verbal intelligence, were set three separate problems on a simple piece of problem-solving apparatus. No tendency was apparent for old subjects to accumulate more redundant information than young subjects. There was no difference between the groups in performance on the first problem; on the second problem younger subjects were inclined to guess and old subjects did very badly; on the third (and most difficult) problem the performance of young and middle-aged subjects slumped but old subjects did well. It is suggested that intelligent old subjects may retain an ability to learn from experience which enables them to compete with younger subjects who are equal or even superior to them in non-verbal intelligence. The apparatus should have encouraged the use of Bruner''s "focussing" strategy but little evidence could be found that subjects had adopted it.

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