Abstract
Among the major features of aging are changes in cognitive functioning and adaptive life skills. These changes vary considerably across different skills domains and also are quite variable across individuals. There are a number of individual differences characteristics that predict the extent to which these changes occur and their consequences for a person who is experiencing changes in his or her skills associated with increased age. This chapter describes these changes and provides some information about how they are relevant to understanding changes in cognition and function with aging in patients with schizophrenia. Keeping in mind that changes in cognitive abilities and self-care skills are normal in healthy individuals will allow for more careful evaluation of the types of abnormalities seen in older patients with schizophrenia. Examination of the factors that lead to extraordinary cognitive and functional changes in healthy individuals will also allow for a more careful examination of whether abnormalities seen in older schizophrenic individuals are a result of schizophrenia or other processes that produce declines in functioning in the population as a whole. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)