AJanuary 30 1976
The Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, Florida, Friday, January 30, 1976
Federal Grant Helps Move To Check Effects Of Aging
GAINESVILLE (AP)—Dr. Walter Cunningham, who recently needed only three hours to win 18 of 23 simultaneous chess games, uses chess competition as part of a study on the effect of age on mental skills.
“One's ability to understand others and react to others, important to chess, is a highly experience-related ability which increases to a fairly advanced age,” the 32-year-old University of Florida psychologist said.
CUNNINGHAM, one of 60 American life masters at chess, said the research project is supported by a $90,000 federal grant.
“It was long held that intellectual abilities peak at age 20 and decline thereafter,” Cunningham said. “Now, it is generally believed there are no age-related declines in abilities.”
He disagrees with both theories and concludes high-speed work declines significantly as people age, but ability to perform unspeeded tasks doesn't decline if the person is physically healthy.
“In fact,” he said, “verbal ability and experience-related abilities tend to increase with age. In some individuals, vocabulary scores show increases even to age 80.”
