Developmental psychology/Chapter 12/Expert Status

All of these factors affect adult cognition:

Aging neurons
Cultural pressures
Historical conditions
Past education

Selective Optimization with Compensation

Developed by Paul and Margaret Bates in the 1900s, this concept explains people's desire to balance their lives by compensating physical/cognitive losses and to perfect their expertise in already successful activities. This explains that some people may be less motivated in certain fields (i.e. taking IQ tests), which may show a loss of an aspect of intelligence but is compensated by another aspect of intelligence. The brain's plasticity allows them to engage in whatever interests them throughout their lifespan (i.e. A historian may not be the best "math guy"). Multitasking isn't as effective as we perceive it to be.

"Everyone's a Selective Expert"

This is an example of "selective optimization". As people grow, they dwell more into whatever their field may be. An example is a psychologist would focus more on the topic of psychology vs. agriculture. They are focusing on one topic and ignoring the rest. An expert is someone who has specialized skills in a certain area. Experts are:

Intuitive - Experts focus on past experiences/contexts vs. a novice, who focuses on formal rules.
Automatic - Experts automatically attain information at a fast pace and commit actions almost fluidly (an example are football players or musicians in front of a street audience).
Strategic - Experts strategize and are able to plan for if disaster comes about them (an expert pilot may learn how to do an emergency landing in a field if he must).
Flexible - Experts are able to work a way around the standard textbook definition of solving problems (an example is a teacher, who may change their teaching strategy in order to appease a certain student).

The Relation between Age and Experience

When it comes to experience, time is a necessity for this. This explains why the best employees may be older than the rest. An example is also seen with those who deal with perfumes. Although smell declines as one ages, the older ones were able to correctly identify perfumes due to their vast experience.

Recently, women have been entering the work force in massive numbers - and the inverse has been happening, many men are now taking care of their families. It is no longer a rare sight to see a man upholding the family while the mother works.