"No two fields ever grow grass the same way": assessment of conservation abilities in the elderly

Within the past ten years, standard cognitive assessment procedures, including Piagetian tasks, have often been used with the elderly. The present paper examines several possible difficulties in interpreting the results of studied which employ Piagetian tasks, especially conservation tasks, with older individuals. First, it is noted that Piaget's clinical method allows more flexibility in the assessment of competence than do the more quantifiable, American techniques. However, most of the research studies suggesting a cognitive decline with age have utilized rigid assessment procedures. Second, the paper examines the possibility of task misinterpretation by the elderly. Examples from recent research, in which older persons stressed reality-based problem solving strategies rather than the more abstract strategies traditionally associated with Piagetian tasks, are provided. The possibility of cognitive change instead of cognitive decline with age is discussed, and the importance of utilizing procedures which can measure this change is stressed.