Our age profile is much more complex than this. Language ability was found to account for 23 percent of the variance in social acceptability and almost half (46) of the variance in judged functioning level. Those who study lifespan development recognize that chronological age does not completely capture a person’s age. Relationship between mental age and speech and language performance was found to be much stronger than that between chronological age and test performance. Similarly, the age at which people are moving away from the home of their parents, starting their careers, getting married or having children, or even whether they get married or have children at all, is changing. 4 limitations of using mental age as a reference point a. If you look around at your fellow students in your courses at college you might notice more people who are older than the more traditional aged college students, those 18 to 25. Chronological Age Referencing We obtain a mental age score from intelligence tests, usually administered by psychologists. This was computed using the ratio method, with the following formula: mental age/chronological age 100 IQ.

However, there have been arguments that social age is becoming less relevant in the 21st century (Neugarten, 1979 1996). Our culture often reminds us whether we are “on target” or “off target” for reaching certain social milestones, such as completing our education, moving away from home, having children, or retiring from work. Social age: Our social age is based on the social norms of our culture and the expectations our culture has for people of our age group. Remember you are as young or old as you feel. A 70 year-old might be travelling to new countries, taking courses at college, or starting a new business.Compared to others of our age group, we may be more or less adaptive and excited to meet new challenges. An individual who has cognitive impairments might be 20 years of age yet has the mental capacity of an 8 year-old. This includes our cognitive capacity along with our emotional beliefs about how old we are. Psychological age: Our psychologically adaptive capacity compared to others of our chronological age is our psychological age. Mental age is based on a person's intellectual development whereas chronological age is based on the calendar date that a person was born. Our nutrition, level of physical activity, sleeping habits, smoking, alcohol consumption, how we mentally handle stress, and the genetic history of our ancestors, to name but a few. IQ of a person is given by the formula I QM A/C A× 100,where MA is mental age and CA is the chronological age. Several factors determine the rate at which our body ages. Mental Age (MA)is an intelligence test score, expressed in units of chronological age for which a given level of performance is average or typical when compared to people of the same age. Biological age: Another way developmental researchers can think about the concept of age is to examine how quickly the body is aging, this is your biological age.

Mental age and chronological age