Abstraction is a basic cognitive process that cuts across many modes of thinking. Linear structural equations analysis is used in this research to test the validity of a measurement model of abstraction. Using data collect in Dekolb, Il., support was found for a model of abstraction that includes non-concrete and non-stereotype thinking. These findings facilitate development of an abstraction battery. This battery will be used in survey research for the purpose of conducting further tests of the theory of psychological effects of complex environments. The central purpose of this research is to investigate the ways in which the structure of elderly men and women's lives are interrelated with the level of their intellectual functioning.