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39 pages 1 hour read

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2022

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Background

Psychological Context: Dean Keith Simonton’s Research

This book’s premise rests on the work of psychologists Dean Keith Simonton and Raymond Cattell. Simonton’s research into creative productivity and career trajectories forms the basis of Chapter 1—the crux of Brooks’s argument that mental decline is so widespread and predictable that it is inescapable.

Simonton based his conclusions on two decades of research into scholarly and creative careers—that is, careers stemming from the mind. He examined various creative disciplines and noted each individual’s first contribution to the field, as well as that person’s best contribution—representing peak performance—and final contribution. One graph showed the results for nine different subjects in math and the sciences (Simonton, Dean Keith. “Creative Productivity: A Predictive and Explanatory Model of Career Trajectories and Landmarks.” Psychological Review, vol. 104, no. 1, 1997, p. 75).

Another graph compared the results of different disciplines, including sciences and the arts (Simonton, Dean Keith 71). The graphs were remarkably similar: All individuals showed peak performance roughly 20 years into a career, no matter when the career began or which field it was in.

Simonton holds a PhD from Harvard University and is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. His work has focused on creativity, leadership, and intelligence. His book The Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity won the 2000 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association.

Psychological Context: Raymond Cattell’s Research

Cattell’s work forms the basis of what Brooks calls the second curve, described in the second chapter, on which the rest of the book is based. Brooks cites Cattell’s book Abilities: Their Structure, Growth, and Action (1971). Cattell’s research into fluid and crystallized intelligence began thirty years earlier (Cattell, Raymond B. “Some Theoretical Issues in Adult Intelligence Testing.” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 38, 1941, p. 592; Cattell, Raymond B. “The Measurement of Adult Intelligence.” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 3, 1943, pp. 153-193).

Cattell drew from the work of psychologist Charles Spearman. Cattell took Spearman’s variable g—meaning “general ability factor,” or the cognitive abilities that form general intelligence. He divided it into the subsets gf and gc, representing fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence is not attached to any one area or discipline, but rather has the ability to “flow” to different areas as needed. It is largely independent on education and experience, allowing one to use general reasoning and abstract thinking to solve problems. Crystallized intelligence relies on accumulated education and experience and draws on the results of earlier use of fluid intelligence—what worked and what didn’t. It is largely specific to a certain field. Cattell revised his theory throughout his career, in later years through collaboration with a former student, John Horn.

Cattell held a PhD from King’s College, London. In addition to his work on intelligence, he devised a theory of personality. During his career, spent mostly at the University of Illinois, he wrote dozens of books and hundreds of journal articles. He died in 1998.

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