Wisdom and Intelligence: The Nature and Function of Knowledge in the Later Years

Abstract

Intelligence can be defined as the ability to think logically, to conceptualize and abstract from reality. Wisdom can be defined as the ability to grasp human nature, which is paradoxical, contradictory, and subject to continual change. These two constructs hold potential for highlighting positive and adaptive features of development in the later years. Both are considered to increase with age, and both provide for life-long acquisition of knowledge. Despite these phenotypic similarities, this paper attempts to illustrate that the nature of wisdom and its function in the developmental process differs sufficiently from cognitive ability to warrant separate scrutiny. These two constructs are compared with respect to the domains of behavior they represent, the operational tasks used to assess them, and the relationship of logic and time in their development. The function of intelligence is characterized as focusing on questions of how to do and accomplish necessary life-supporting tasks; the function of wisdom is characterized as provoking the individual to consider the consequences of his actions both to self and their effects on others. Wisdom, therefore, evokes questions of should one pursue a particular course of action.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brent

S. B.

, Individual Specialization, Collective Adaptation and Rate of Environmental Change, Human Development, 2, pp. 21–33, 1978.

Brent

S. B.

and Watson

, Aging and Wisdom: Individual and Collective Aspects, paper presented at the National Gerontological Society Meeting, San Diego, California, November 1980.

Clayton

, Erikson's Theory of Human Development as it Applies to the Aged: Wisdom as Contradictive Cognition, Human Development, 2, pp. 119–128, 1975.

Clayton

and Birren

J. E.

, The Development of Wisdom, Across the Life Span: A Reexamination of an Ancient Logic, in Life-Span Development and Behavior, 3, Baltes

P. B.

and Brim

O. G.

(eds.), PP- 103–135, Academic Press, New York, 1980.

Labouvie-Vief

, Adaptive Dimensions of Adult Cognition, in Transitions of Aging, Datan

and Lohmann

(eds.), Academic Press, New York, 1980.

Horn

, Human Ability Systems, in Life-Span Development and Behavior, 1, Baltes

P. B.

(ed.), Academic Press, New York, 1978.

Cattell

R. B.

, Abilities: Their Structure, Growth and Action, Houghton-Miffin, Boston, 1971.

Guilford

J. P.

, The Nature of Human Intelligence, McGraw-Hill, New York, 167.

Wechsler

, Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, The Psychological Corporation, New York, 1955.

10.

Hulicka

I. M.

, Age Differences in Retention as a Function of Interference, Journal of Gerontology, 22, pp. 180–184, 1967.

11.

Baltes

P. B.

and Schaie

K. W.

, On the Plasticity of Intelligence in Adulthood and Old Age: Where Horn and Donaldson Fail, American Psychologist, 31, pp. 720–725, 1976.

12.

Schaie

K. W.

, Primary Mental Abilities in Adulthood, in Life-Span Development and Behavior, 2, Baltes

P. B.

and Brim

O. G.

(eds.), Academic Press, New York, 1979.

13.

Schaie

K. W.

, Toward a Stage Theory of Adult Cognitive Development, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 8, pp. 129–138, 1977–78.

14.

Gisen

C. B.

and Datan

, The Competent Older Woman, in Transitions of Aging, Dantan

and Lohmann

(eds.), Academic Press, New York, 1980.

15.

Labouvie-Vief

, Cognitive Competence in Adulthood—A Developmental View, paper presented at the National Gerontological Society Meeting, San Diego, California, November 1980.

16.

Perry

W. I.

, Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1968.

17.

White

R. W.

, Motivation Reconsidered: The Concept of Competence, Psychological Review, 66:5, pp. 297–233, 1959.

18.

Erikson

, Identity and the Life Cycle, International Press, New York, 1950.

19.

Tuchman

, Inquiry into the Persistence of Unwisdom in Government, Sol Feinstone lecture series, United States Military Academy, October 24, 1979.

20.

Cronbach

and Meehl

, Construct Validity in Psychological Tests, Psychological Bulletin, 52, pp. 281–302, 1955.