University of Illinois Professor Elizabeth Stine-Morrow says aging adults often worry about memory problems, but they can compensate for the age-related changes rather than giving in to them or giving up on an activity. Such people also have choices in the way they stay mentally engaged and embrace challenges, she said.

It’s part of what she calls the “Dumbledore hypothesis of cognitive aging,” based on a line from the character in the third Harry Potter novel: “It is our choices … that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Certain “fluid abilities,” or “mental mechanics,” tend to decline with age, Stine-Morrow said, but it matters how we respond. “Minor glitches in the cognitive system can loom larger than they perhaps need to because we’ve got these preconceived ideas about what happens with aging,” she said.

She is to present her research Aug. 19 in San Francisco during the American Psychological Association meeting. A paper on the subject has been accepted by the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.