# CAUSES IN ADULT DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENCES IN ABILITIES

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 1991 · $117,696

## Abstract

This research will yield an improved description and understanding of
individual differences in the ways in which mature adults describe the
controls in their lives, their life styles, their use of substances and
the effects this use has on cognitive development.  The focus is on a
period of development that extends from 40 to 80 years of age.  This is a
reservoir for effects accumulating from previous periods, and a time in
which important features of a person are likely to change.  Four
cross-sectional studies will be done using exploratory and confirmatory
analyses with samples of subjects and variables that are large enough to
ensure dependability and generality of findings.  New Measures are to be
developed; models are to be constructed to establish how beliefs about
control relate to patterns of lifestyle that involve attitudes and
behaviors pertaining to maintenance of health and physical fitness, use
of leisure time, involvement in vocations and avocations, and activities
pertaining to use of alcohol, stress control and self control.  Analyses
to verify control/lifestyle models will indicate how different patterns
of use of alcohol operate in combinations with other determiners of
adulthood changes in cognitive capabilities.  The results will show the
extent to which adulthood declines in vulnerable cognitive abilities,
principally fluid reasoning and short-term apprehension and retrieval,
are associated with, and independent of, the different lifestyles The
results will also indicate how enhancements in maintained abilities
-crystallized knowledge and retrieval of this knowledge-- are related to
lifestyles and beliefs about self improvement.  An improved evidence--
based scientific theory about intellectual development will be derived.
Scale construction results will provide a basis for further research on
lifestyles & beliefs about controls in mature adults.  Studies of data-
analysis methods, as such, are expected to yield improvements in
understanding inference in psychological research and the use of modeling
methods with developmental data.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3121865
- **Project number:** 1R01AG009936-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **SAM.gov UEI:** G88KLJR3KYT5
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHN L HORN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1991
- **Award amount:** $117,696
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1991-09-01 → 1996-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3121865

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3121865, CAUSES IN ADULT DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENCES IN ABILITIES (1R01AG009936-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3121865. Licensed CC0.

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