How is adult cognition different from cognition in childhood?

Question

How is adult cognition different from cognition in childhood? Describe fluid versus crystallized intelligence. What qualities of thinking improve in adulthood and which may decline?

Answer 1

I would say that the biggest difference in adult and childhood cognition is the complexity of thought. Children think in terms of physical things that they can see and experience. Adults are better at making inferences, solving complex problems, using logic, and seeing the bigger picture. Creativityin thinking might be one of the qualities that declines as we age. Crystallized intelligence is singular, fact-based knowledge that children have while fluid intelligence is adaptable in adults. Adults have the capacity to take in new information and determine whether to assimilate it with information they already have or expand and adjust their thinking to incorporate what they've just learned or thought.