However, Albert Einstein, who made quite striking contributions to the world of science, had signed many important studies at the age of 26; Newton’s discovery of the universal gravitational law at the age of 25 may seem to confirm this hypothesis.
However, many researchers and psychologists have conducted very detailed studies on the age at which our intelligence reaches its peak, and the results have been striking.
We often think that our ability to quickly recall information and think quickly peaks around age 20 and declines as we age. But research suggests that not all aspects of mental age are the same.
While studies indicate that various components of intelligence peak at different ages, some of our intelligence skills reach their most productive stage in high school and college. Others continue to develop from the age of 40.
Germine and Hartshorne developed a new way of data analysis to determine at what age or age range each skill peaks.
As a result of this analysis, it was determined that the various cognitive abilities that exist in the brain do not necessarily reach their peak at a certain age. In short, there is no certain peak point for a certain age, and this point can vary according to various age ranges or individuals.
The researchers collected data from nearly 500,000 subjects and created a table showing that each skill they tested peaked at different ages.
As a result of this research, the raw speed of information processing peaks at the age of 18 or 19 and then begins to decline, while short-term memory continues to develop until the age of 25 and tends to decline around the age of 35.
Psychologists in the US conducted various tests on 48,537 people aged 10 to 89 on how intelligence skills changed with age.
These tests were on language, IQ, and memory tests that measure working memory, emotion recognition, number skills, and vocabulary. Of these skills, coding with numbers and symbols mostly performs most effectively in the 19 to 20 year olds, while working memory peaks in the mid-20s to mid-30s. After the age of 30, this skill tends to gradually decline.
While the emotion recognition function is quite high in the 20s, this skill continues to develop until the age of 48, but declines after the age of 48.
Our vocabulary, also called crystal intelligence, continues to develop regularly with advancing age. Although we generally think that this skill decreases after the age of 60, there is no decrease in our vocabulary with advancing age. On the contrary, it continues to reach its peak as age progresses.
Trying to determine how the intelligence specific to field studies is in proportion to age, Phillip Ackerman applied some tests among 288 people between the ages of 21 and 62 who had reached a certain level of education.
These fields included art, music, literature, biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, law, psychology, technology, and electronics. As a result of this study, Ackerman found that middle-aged people in general are more knowledgeable in many areas than young people.
But this finding also revealed a surprising exception. On the contrary, the fields of chemistry, biology and physics showed a greater upward trend among young people.
Considering all these implications, we conclude that different parts of our intelligence peak at different stages throughout our lives.
Some skills remain stagnant throughout life, while others peak or tend to decline as we age.
- Sources: Science Alert, MIT News, Scientific American
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