Continuing Cognitive Development

I find it interesting that the majority of the theorists studied in current developmental psychology focuses almost exclusively on the cognitive development of infants and children. Taken to a literal extreme this would tend to imply that cognitive development ends, or is “accomplished” by the end of the teen years and the beginning of adulthood. While some theorist have begun to focus on the effects of age on cognitive faculties (how abilities deteriorate in old age) there remains a gap between the teen years and the senior years. Cognitive development continues throughout life including the adult years.
One of the pillars of development theory was Piaget. His theories describes cognitive development in stages: the sensorimotor stage (ages 0 –2); the pre-operational stage (ages 2-6); the concrete operational stage (ages 7 –11) and; the formal operational stage of cognition (ages 12 and above). I dispute the limited end stage and profess that there are other landmark ages of cognitive development. I would suggest a stage start at age 18 and would term it the age of responsibility. Another at age 25 corresponding to the beginning of the brain’s decrease in size. And again at age 35, which is the youngest age at which one could become president of the United States, representative of grey matter and wisdom.
More helpful to understanding a lifetime of cognitive development in my opinion, is the developmental stages outlined by Erickson. According to his theories, as opposed to Piaget and others, in each stage of development the person deals with multiple developmental conflicts. One never fully arrives; cognitive development never ends.
How cognitive development changes during the adult years is a neglected area of research in Developmental Psychology. More attention should be paid to the years between 12 and 70.