Definition:
Fluid intelligence to the ability to reason quickly and to think abstractly. This type of intelligence tends to decline during late adulthood.
Fluid intelligence along with its counterpart, crystallized intelligence, are both factors of what psychologist Raymond Cattell described as general intelligence. While fluid intelligence involves our current ability to reason and deal with complex information around us, crystallized intelligence involves learning, knowledge and skills that are acquired over a lifetime.
It is important to note that despite the name, crystallized intelligence is not a form of fluid intelligence that has become 'crystallized.' Instead, the two factors of general intelligence are considered separate and distinct.
