Some individuals may experience severe deterioration of cognitive skills, which can lead to dementia. This can make it impossible to cope with on a day to day basis. It has been said that once the aging results are in an inevitable loss of cognitive abilities, that nothing can be done to halt the decline. Research, however does not support this claim (Cherry 2016). Although certain areas of thinking do show a normal decline as individuals age. For example, the intelligence of an aging adult. There are two different fundamental types of skills such as fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence is the ability to apply mental power to situations that require little or no prior knowledge. Fluid intelligence involves being able to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and education. Examples of the use of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles and coming up with problem-solving strategies. Fluid intelligence starts to decline during late adulthood (Cherry 2016). Crystallized intelligence is based on the information, skills, and strategies that individuals have learned from experience. It reflects accumulated past experience and socialization. Situations that require crystallized intelligence include reading comprehension and vocabulary exams. This type of intelligence is based upon facts and rooted in …show more content…
Learning and memory are the most important component of cognition. Learning is the process acquiring knowledge and skills. Memory is the retention or storage of the knowledge. Most individuals that have memory lapse or not suffering from Alzheimer’s or any other disease (Mastin 2010). This is just a normal part of aging that have minimal effect on functioning. Forgetfulness can be frightening to most individuals, so most individuals may make a list to keep track of their day. The first store house of brain is the working memory (Mastin 2010). The working memory refers to the ability to temporarily store and manipulate information. Working memory starts to decline in advance aging. These declines have important implications for everyday living such as memorizing a list of words, reasoning, producing complex written, and spoken language (Mastin 2010). Long term memory is transfer of information that is stored permanently and it can be facilitated or improved by mental repetition of information. It involves individuals the ability to recall distant memories. Long term memory is needed to through day to day activities. Long term memory is relatively stable and declines only slightly with age, although it may take an older person longer to recall an older memory and are more likely to give false or inaccurate memories (Mastin