ABSTRACT
Across the lifespan, people experience changes in their abilities, skills, and goals. Cognitive psychologists interested in development investigate the ways in which these change, and what that can tell us about cognitive processes. In the real world, implicit assumptions about these changes are part of the fabric of society, which places age limits on various activities as a control for competency and responsibility. The majority of societies, for example, do not permit an individual to drive until an age between late adolescence and early adulthood as a means of ensuring that drivers have suf®cient levels of cognitive development and responsibility to handle a car safely. Education systems similarly enshrine assumptions about changing cognitive competence with age, with changes in the delivery of teaching, classroom organisation, curriculum content, and expectations of the independence of learner as a function of age. Further on in the lifespan, older adults in many societies are expected to retire at a particular age; retirement ages are often lower for employments that involve robust challenges to physical strength and decision-making, such as piloting. Elderly drivers may also need to demonstrate their capability to drive safely.
