Final answer:
Older adults can maintain cognitive performance by focusing on their strengths, specifically crystallized intelligence, which tends to remain stable or improve with age. Engaging in mental and physical activities can delay cognitive decline. The continuity theory and strengths-based management support the idea that utilizing strengths is crucial for maintaining performance.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to research, older adults maintain higher performance by concentrating on their strengths. Unlike physical abilities that decline after the mid-20s, cognitive abilities such as crystallized intelligence remain fairly stable or may even improve with age. However, fluid intelligence, which includes information processing abilities and memory, tends to decline in late adulthood.
To delay the onset of cognitive decline, mental and physical activities play an important role. Engaging in such activities helps reduce the incidence of cognitive impairments. This aligns with the continuity theory which postulates that the elderly make choices to maintain consistency in internal structures like personality and beliefs, and external structures such as relationships, to remain active throughout their elder years.
Similarly, the strengths-based management approach advocated by Donald Clifton suggests that focusing on an individual's strengths rather than weaknesses is vital. Strengths are enduring talents that allow for consistent performance in tasks involving those talents. This idea supports the view that older adults can maintain higher performance by focusing on and leveraging their strengths.