ABSTRACT
For many years my research interest in aging has been in cognitive performance, primarily memory, learning, and problem solving. These topics in gerontology have been well reviewed recently (see Kausler, 1982), so a review of the literature will not be attempted in this chapter. It is clear that many (but not all) aspects of cognitive performance of the elderly compare unfavorably with those of young adults in cross-sectional studies; and longitudinal evidence of declines late in life has been emerging in problem solving (Arenberg, 1974, 1982a), memory (Arenberg, 1978; McCarty, Siegler, & Logue, 1982), verbal learning (Arenberg, 1983), and psychometric intelligence (see summaries in Jarvik & Bank, 1983; Schaie, 1983; Schmitz-Scherzer & Thomae, 1983; and Siegler, 1983).
