Adolescent and Adult Intellectual Development

Abstract

Traditional approaches to intelligence have mainly evolved from Spearman’s theory of general intelligence, which views intelligence as general and fixed, and from applications of Binet’s approach, which views intelligence among children and adolescents as normally increasing with age. The study of adult intellect and intellectual development indicates that neither approach well represents the depth and breadth of skills and knowledge that make up the adult intellectual repertoire. A framework for examining individual differences in intellectual development from adolescence through middle adulthood is discussed, along with a series of empirical investigations on the ability and non-ability (e.g., personality, interests, self-concept) determinants of domain knowledge. Implications for understanding intelligence during adulthood and college-major choices are discussed from a perspective that combines intelligence as process, personality, and interests as they determine the development of intelligence as knowledge.