Cognitive Network Enrichment, Not Degradation, Explains the Aging Mental Lexicon and Links Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence.
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| Title: | Cognitive Network Enrichment, Not Degradation, Explains the Aging Mental Lexicon and Links Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence. |
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| Authors: | Hills, Thomas T.1 (AUTHOR) t.t.hills@warwick.ac.uk |
| Source: | Psychological Review. Mar2026, Vol. 133 Issue 2, p488-506. 19p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Crystallized intelligence, *Associative learning, *Cognitive development, *Cognition, Cognitive aging, Executive function, Cognition disorders |
| Abstract: | Cognition is a complex system of interacting components. Late-life cognitive decline is often explained as a degradation of the interconnectivity among these components. Evidence from the aging mental lexicon corroborates this interpretation, as older adults produce higher entropy responses in free association tasks, appear to have sparser free association networks, and judge objects to be less similar to one another than younger adults. Here, I demonstrate that all of these effects are produced by a model of cognitive network enrichment, which treats aging as an extension of lifelong learning. By increasing interconnectivity, learning increases competition for activation among potential targets, increasing entropy and reducing targeted activation. The impact of network enrichment is demonstrated using a general prediction error model (Rescorla–Wagner), which learns and enriches a cognitive network representation following lifelong experience with a network of associations in the environment. Sampling from the learned representation to produce behavior reproduces the above effects. A qualitative model comparison shows that various models of degradation fail to capture the above results for entropy and similarity. Both enriched and degraded representations can produce sparsening-free association networks, depending on the specific methodological details of data collection. This underscores the general problem of inferring representation from behavior without considering process. Further, extending cognitive network enrichment more broadly provides a lifelong developmental pathway for overattention to irrelevant stimuli and cognitive slowing—increasing interference, taxing resource limitations, and reducing targeted activation—offering a common cause for rising crystallized intelligence and declining fluid intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Psychological Review is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 192041178 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Cognitive Network Enrichment, Not Degradation, Explains the Aging Mental Lexicon and Links Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hills%2C+Thomas+T%2E%22">Hills, Thomas T.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> t.t.hills@warwick.ac.uk</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychological+Review%22">Psychological Review</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 133 Issue 2, p488-506. 19p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Crystallized+intelligence%22">Crystallized intelligence</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Associative+learning%22">Associative learning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+development%22">Cognitive development</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognition%22">Cognition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+aging%22">Cognitive aging</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Executive+function%22">Executive function</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognition+disorders%22">Cognition disorders</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Cognition is a complex system of interacting components. Late-life cognitive decline is often explained as a degradation of the interconnectivity among these components. Evidence from the aging mental lexicon corroborates this interpretation, as older adults produce higher entropy responses in free association tasks, appear to have sparser free association networks, and judge objects to be less similar to one another than younger adults. Here, I demonstrate that all of these effects are produced by a model of cognitive network enrichment, which treats aging as an extension of lifelong learning. By increasing interconnectivity, learning increases competition for activation among potential targets, increasing entropy and reducing targeted activation. The impact of network enrichment is demonstrated using a general prediction error model (Rescorla–Wagner), which learns and enriches a cognitive network representation following lifelong experience with a network of associations in the environment. Sampling from the learned representation to produce behavior reproduces the above effects. A qualitative model comparison shows that various models of degradation fail to capture the above results for entropy and similarity. Both enriched and degraded representations can produce sparsening-free association networks, depending on the specific methodological details of data collection. This underscores the general problem of inferring representation from behavior without considering process. Further, extending cognitive network enrichment more broadly provides a lifelong developmental pathway for overattention to irrelevant stimuli and cognitive slowing—increasing interference, taxing resource limitations, and reducing targeted activation—offering a common cause for rising crystallized intelligence and declining fluid intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Psychological Review is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1037/rev0000557 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 19 StartPage: 488 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Crystallized intelligence Type: general – SubjectFull: Associative learning Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognitive development Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognition Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognitive aging Type: general – SubjectFull: Executive function Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognition disorders Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Cognitive Network Enrichment, Not Degradation, Explains the Aging Mental Lexicon and Links Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Hills, Thomas T. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Text: Mar2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 0033295X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 133 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Psychological Review Type: main |
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