May not flow so easy!

  

           There are many changes that can occur to older adults,  that may or may not be a part of the normal aging process.  Some of those changes can be more expected or more pronounce than others. One thing that surprised me be this semester was the decrease in fluid intelligence as we age.   Fluid intelligence is defined as  the ability to reason quickly and to think abstractly (www.about.com-psychology).  Fluid intelligence is very important especially in a rehabilitation environment, in which one will have to learn new strategies for doing things, or problem solving situations especially regarding safety. 

            This decline in fluid intelligence was very evident while working with Mr. B during my geriatric field work.  Mr. B is a very intelligent man, who enjoys staying abreast on the stock market during his leisure time.  Although his crystallized intelligence was unaffected, it appeared that his fluid intelligence was.  This was obvious while performing a cooking session for therapy.  The therapy kitchen where we were working was unfamiliar.     Although it was also my first time working in this kitchen I was able to problem solve how to work the oven as well as locate items based on where items are usually located in my own kitchen.  This ability to abstract and problem solve was rather difficult for Mr. B.  He required assistance to locate the cooking items in the kitchen needed to complete the meal.   He also often complained about how different this kitchen was from his own.  I acknowledged the fact that I knew this kitchen probably differed from his dramatically but he was unable to move beyond the fact that is was a different environment, reiterating it numerous times.

            The decrease in fluid intelligence was also obvious when asking  Mr. B  to make cookies shaped into the letters OT and PT.  Initially it was hard for him to conceptualize how to create the letters.  Following demonstrated,  he was able  to complete the activity. 

Fluid intelligence despite its name,  is not what you know and have learned, it is more of your theability to see a situation in a new way or from a different perspective.  This is very important, especially for the geriatric population because now they may not be able to do things they same way they once were.  The ability to have a flexible way of thinking can go a long way with how to adapt to life’s new changes in a positive manner.

            There are many studies the show that fluid intelligence can improve through specific training.  There are many game website than can be used increase fluid intelligence.  In one study there was an improvement in fluid intelligence in participants who participated in the training games for 25 minutes a day. The increase in fluid intelligence increase as the daily usage of the games increased.

The following video is an example of the type of game that can increase your fluid intelligence.

Here is a website where  you can actually play some of the games that will increase your fluid intelligence.  There is also more information on increasing fluid intelligence. http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~ckanan/FluidIntelligence.html