Intellect and cognitive performance in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Investment personality traits are thought to positively affect cognitive performance in old age, even after controlling for prior cognitive ability. In the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (N = 1,091), a cross-lagged model tested for reciprocal effects of the investment trait Intellect on verbal fluency, an indicator of crystallized intelligence, at age 70 and 73 years, while adjusting for general IQ at age 11 and 70 years. Intellect at age 70 was weakly associated with contemporaneous verbal fluency but had no significant effects on fluency at age 73. Conversely, verbal fluency at age 70 was significantly, positively related to Intellect at age 73. The results suggest that better verbal fluency precedes intellectual investment in old age rather than the other way around. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)