Practical intelligence at work: relationship between aging and cognitive efficiency among managers in a bank environment.

A study was conducted to determine which better predicts performance among bank managers: tacit practical knowledge as assessed by the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Managers (TKIM) or 2 psychometric measures of reasoning, the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven's) and the Verbal Reasoning subtest of the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT). Two hundred bank managers (43 experts and 157 nonexperts), ages 24-59 years old, participated. Increased age was associated with lower performance in Raven's and the DAT but less so in the TKIM; best performing older managers on average had high levels of tacit knowledge, although they scored lower on psychometric reasoning measures; TKIM predicted managerial skill; DAT and Raven's did not. These results suggest that stabilization of some aspects of intelligence may occur in old age. Implications of the findings for the study of practical intelligence, expertise, and compensatory abilities are discussed.

Noninvasive tracking of coronary atherosclerosis by electron beam computed tomography: rationale and design of the Felodipine Atherosclerosis Prevention Study (FAPS).

The Felodipine Atherosclerosis Prevention Study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of the calcium antagonist felodipine ER and combined felodipine/simvastatin therapy on retarding the progression of atherosclerosis, estimated by serial changes in coronary calcium evaluated by noninvasive electron beam computed tomography. Subjects include 180 men and women aged 40 to 69 and 50 to 69 years, respectively, with moderate type IIa dyslipidemia, with either cardiovascular disease or risk factors. All subjects receive simvastatin lipid-lowering therapy, and are randomized either to felodipine or placebo for a treatment period of 2 years. Monitoring of blood chemistry, measures of lipids and apolipoproteins, blood pressure, evaluation of symptoms, and interim clinical event monitoring are done at routine follow-up visits. Baseline and 2-year follow-up electron beam computed tomography, measuring changes in total calcium score, area, and mass, evaluate the effects of intervention on the progression of calcified atherosclerosis. The results from the Felodipine Atherosclerosis Prevention Study will provide valuable information about the effect of felodipine alone and in combination with simvastatin on progression of calcified atherosclerosis evaluated noninvasively.

Clinical affiliations needed to augment educational experience.

Too little attention has been paid to the need for a solid clinical component in the health professional's education program. So that this important component is added to the didactic component, hospitals should work with educational institutions as coequal partners to arrive at workable affiliation agreements.