Aging and Creativity examines the effects of aging on creative functioning, including age-related changes in cognition, personality, and motivation that affect performance or output. The book reviews and summarizes both lab-based and real-world-based studies. Changes in working memory, speed of processing, learning efficiency, and retrieval from long-term memory are all discussed as factors influencing creativity, as are health changes and changes in social roles with later age. The book concludes with practical implications of age effects on creativity for older people in work and everyday life. - Explores cognition and creativity from early adulthood through old age - Considers creativity and aging from an evidence-based perspective - Includes biological, psychological, and social approaches to aging and creativity - Covers age effects on perception, processing speed, working memory, and long-term memory - Discusses effects of health and social role changes with age on creativity - Examines links between productivity, motivation, and creativity over age

Dr Gilhooly's research is in the area of human cognitive psychology, especially thinking and problem solving and effects of age on cognition and well-being. His emphasis recently has been on collaborative work at Brunel University London on aging, dementia, and on decision-making among professionals dealing with elder financial abuse.

Cognitive Aging and Creativity examines the effects of cognitive aging on creative functioning. It looks at different aspects of cognition such as working memory, speed of processing, learning efficiency, and retrieval from long term memory. The book goes on to explain the degree to which changes in these different cognitive functions affect creative thinking, and considers the aging-associated changes in personality, life course issues, and motivation that will affect real world creative performance. Using both laboratory-based approaches, which seek to untangle the contributions of different functions to creativity, as revealed by aging effects, and also real world studies of aging effects on every day and on high level creative behaviour, the book concludes with practical implications of age effects on creativity for older people in work, education, and everyday life.

• Explores cognition and creativity through childhood to old age
• Considers creativity from a neuroscientific perspective
• Covers age effects on perception, working memory, and long-term memory
• Examines links between productivity, motivation, and creativity
• Includes case studies of older creatives such as Matisse, Lloyd-Wright, Hawking, and Darwin

1. Introduction
2. Cognition in Young Adults
3. Creative Competence in Young Adults
4. Creative Performance of Young Adults in Real World
5. Aging and Cognition
6. Aging and Creative Competence
7. Aging and Real-World Creative Performance
8. Case Studies of Older Creatives
9. Implications for Creativity Through the Lifespan
10. Summary and Conclusions