Cognitive performance and mental ability: Implications for learning in the later years

Both cross sectional and longitudinal studies of change with age in mental ability and cross sectional studies of change with age in cognitive performance indicate that the ability to learn generally does not decline in adulthood but continues at a stable and responsive level well into the later years. This conclusion is not only supported by psychological research but also confirmed by the rapidly growing numbers of older persons who are returning to and succeeding in the pursuit of educational activities. If and when decline does occur, it is usually modest, often reversible, rarely extreme, and rarely if ever great enough to preclude the possibility of learning that may be highly meaningful to the older learner.Howard Y. McClusky is the charter President of the Adult Education Association of the U.S.A. and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. He is currently active as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Adult and Continuing Education and Faculty Associate in the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.     

Effects of behavior rehearsal,audiotaped observation,and intelligence on assertiveness and adjustment in third-grade children

The effects of behavior rehearsal and audiotaped vignettes as added components to a 12-session assertion training lecture series were studied. Subjects were 96 third-grade children of average or above average IQ. Results showed that on both measures of assertion, behavior rehearsal was a significant adjunct to the assertion lecture, which was also given to the attention control children. On one measure of assertion an effect was also noted for the audiotaped observation condition. There was no effect of IQ. While clear increases in assertion were found, no effect on neuroticism or trait anxiety was noted. It was recommended that school mental health programs include an assertiveness segment in their curriculum.