A lifespan study of classification preference.
Individuals between the ages of 4 and 70 were presented with a revised version of the Conceptual Styles Test. The number of similarity classifications was found to increase from the 4- to the 45- to 50-year-old group and to decrease thereafter; the number of complementary responses was found to decrease and then increase. The 20- to 25-year-old group used more perceptual similarity classifications, whereas the 35- to 40- and 45- to 50-year-old groups used more functional similarity classifications. One purpose of the study was to determine whether, as Kogan has suggested, elderly adults are more creative and free-wheeling in their classification responses than younger individuals. Two measures of creativity were employed; one was based on the experimenter's judgements and one based on the frequency with which the same response was given by other subjects. Neither measure indicated that the elderly individuals were more creative than the other age groups.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002965:Classification; D003071:Cognition; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests