Intelligence through the Ages

By: Kristen Palfrey

Infancy
Key Factors
According to Jean Piaget infants are in the Sensorimotor
stage. In this stage they develop through there senses and
actions
Infants develop reflexes.
Learn about the reactions of repetitive behaviour
About the coordination of reactions
The discover early representational thought, this means they
understand that an object can represent something else like
a picture of an animal is different then the animal itself
The learn about object permanence which is knowing objects
continue to exist when they can no longer be seen

Infancy
Key Factors cont.
Infants learn and understand non-verbal
communication at an early age.
They can read facial expressions, visual cues and
tone of voice.
The main key factor is that infants learn through
experience.

Infancy
Potential problems with intelligence in infancy
The main problem with intelligence in infancy is
that it is hard to test.
There are tests out there however, infants all react
so differently it is hard to have an accurate test.

Infancy
How to maximize cognitive development
The best way to help with cognitive development
is to allow infants to explore, sense and act.
The senserimotor phase of development relies
upon the infants senses and actions to increase
intelligence.
Have activities that allows infants to use their
senses like sight, sound, taste and feel

Adolescence
Key Factors
The adolescence stage of development is very extreme.
There are a lot of changes both in physical development
and psychological development
Changes in IQ and Creativity are developed quite a bit
in this stage of life
Changes in the brain can result in behaviors that might
not be ideal. Behaviours like easy distraction.
In adolescence memory is developed. Processing speed
is increased quite a bit from infancy. These two
developments are though to help develop fluid thinking

Adolescence
Key Factors Cont.
Adolescents can become egocentric or self-focused, because
of this they often think they are the focus of everyone's
attention
Well there are clear signs of development in intelligence
adolescents think it is cool to appear unintelligent and act
accordingly.
In late adolescents risk taking or reckless behaviour
becomes prominent this is because the brain is changing
and some areas develop faster then others making
adolescents not understand the consequences of their
actions

Adolescence
Potential problems
The main problem in adolescence is that the
reward part of the brain develops faster then the
control part of the brain. By this I mean that
adolescence brain develops in a way that they can
understand the good benefits of something but not
the reasons why it could be bad
A second problem in adolescence is that IQ tests
tend to be a little all over the place because the
brain is still developing

Adulthood
Key Factors
In early adulthood people feel stuck. They know they
arent a teenager but they arent quite a full adult yet
In middle adulthood we have jobs, careers
We understand life and we can feel unproductive
In Late adulthood we feel despair or a sense of
accomplishment its a period in our life where we
reflect
Most psychologist say that intelligence doesnt
decrease with age

Adulthood
Key Factors cont.
Studies done at different stages of adulthood show
that verbal abilities increase while nonverbal
abilities decrease. When verbal abilities do start to
decrease it is at a much slower rate then nonverbal
abilities
Overall, as time passes we do tend to slowly loss
abilities we have developed throughout life.

Adulthood
Potential Problems
The types of problems in adulthood really depend on
what stage of adulthood you are
Young adults feel stuck in between being a teenager
and an adult
Middle adults feel bored and have mid-life crisis
Late adults can feel depressed or under
accomplished
Late adults can also feel like they are losing their
intelligence.

Adulthood
Cognitive Development
Development in adulthood also depends on what
stage of adulthood you are in.
Young adults tend to develop life skills like
learning to live on your own
Middle adults tend to feel like there isnt anything
m ore to develop
Late adults tend to feel that they need to relearn
what they have already learned