The importance of seniors’ education for the level of their cognitive competencies

Cognitive competencies of adults are described by different theoretical models, most often in empirical research using the information processing model and the genetic-development model. In the firstcase, individual processes, such as the speed and accuracy of information processing, are tested. The second model tests the ability to solve abstract, laboratory and practical problems. From middle adulthood, competencies in abstract thinking are reduced, but training limits this decline (Salthouse, 1993, 2006; Sternberg, 1996, Birren, Schaie 2006; Michalska 2015). The ability to solve practical problems is stable and even increases with age of adults (Blanchard-Fields, 2007; Gurba 2016), but it is not known whether education is important for these seniors competencies. The purpose of the study was to determine if the level of cognitive competencies of seniors, measured by the way of solving everyday problems (Test Everyday Problem by Sebby, Papini, 1994), depends on their participation in education in the course of the Third Age University. The two groups of seniors: students of the Third Age University (45 persons) and those who did not participate in institutional education (50 persons) were examined. The best solutions presented by the respondents were compared. For the analysis of the level of cognitive competence, the concept of G. Labouvie-Vief (1980) was used.