Decline in general information accumulated over years with intact memory and reasoning points to impairment in which domain?

• A. New learning ability
• B. Fund of knowledge
• C. Calculation ability
• D. Constructional ability

Answer: (B)

Crystallized intelligence, which is the fund of knowledge you accumulate over a lifetime, represents long-term semantic memory: facts, vocabulary, and general information about the world. If this knowledge deteriorates while a person still has intact memory for recent events and reasoning, it points to a problem with semantic memory or the stored knowledge itself, not with the ability to learn new information or with other cognitive skills.

New learning ability would be more affected if memory formation or encoding were impaired, because it relies on forming and retaining new information. Calculation ability hinges on numerical and procedural skills, not on one’s stored factual knowledge. Constructional ability involves visuospatial and motor planning skills, which is a different domain entirely. The pattern described—loss of years of acquired knowledge with preserved memory and reasoning—best fits impairment in the fund of knowledge.