Everyday Cognition In Adulthood And Late Life

The authors present relevant data that open up new directions for those studying cognitive aging.

By 2030 there will be about 70 million people in the United States who are older than 64. Approximately 26 percent of these will be racial and ethnic minorities. Overall, the older population will be more diverse and better educated than their earlier cohorts. The range of late-life outcomes is very dramatic with old age being a significantly different experience for financially secure and well-educated people than for poor and uneducated people. The early mission of behavioral science research focused on identifying problems of older adults, such as isolation, caregiving, and dementia. Today, the field of gerontology is more interdisciplinary. When I'm 64 examines how individual and social behavior play a role in understanding diverse outcomes in old age. It also explores the implications of an aging workforce on the economy. The book recommends that the National Institute on Aging focus its research support in social, personality, and life-span psychology in four areas: motivation and behavioral change; socioemotional influences on decision-making; the influence of social engagement on cognition; and the effects of stereotypes on self and others. When I'm 64 is a useful resource for policymakers, researchers and medical professionals.

Based on the proceedings of the twelfth biennial conference on life-span developmental psychology, most of the contributions in this volume deal with the mechanisms of everyday cognition. However, a broad spectrum of additional concerns is addressed within the domain of everyday cognition: its metatheoretical underpinnings, theory and theoretical issues, methods of investigation, empirical considerations, and social issues and applications. Addressing everyday cognition in infancy, childhood, adolescence, young and middle adulthood, and old age, this book is consistent with the chronological life-span theme of this series. The contributors collectively discuss some of the traditional concerns of life-span psychology: the dialectical nature of everyday cognition, individual differences, and contextual influences. Leading and concluding chapters provide overview, integration, and summary. In bringing together a wide array of age periods and points of view within the domain of everyday cognition, the editors hope that students and researchers in developmental psychology and cognitive science will find a useful cross-fertilization of ideas. A huge variety of theoretical perspectives is presented ranging from the position that everyday cognition and academic (laboratory) cognition are different manifestations of the same underlying processes to the position that the underlying processes are completely separate. Also of importance, a large assortment of research methods is illustrated including interviews, laboratory simulations, real-life observations and psychometric methods.

For most Americans, staying "mentally sharp" as they age is a very high priority. Declines in memory and decision-making abilities may trigger fears of Alzheimer's disease or other neurodegenerative diseases. However, cognitive aging is a natural process that can have both positive and negative effects on cognitive function in older adults - effects that vary widely among individuals. At this point in time, when the older population is rapidly growing in the United States and across the globe, it is important to examine what is known about cognitive aging and to identify and promote actions that individuals, organizations, communities, and society can take to help older adults maintain and improve their cognitive health. Cognitive Aging assesses the public health dimensions of cognitive aging with an emphasis on definitions and terminology, epidemiology and surveillance, prevention and intervention, education of health professionals, and public awareness and education. This report makes specific recommendations for individuals to reduce the risks of cognitive decline with aging. Aging is inevitable, but there are actions that can be taken by individuals, families, communities, and society that may help to prevent or ameliorate the impact of aging on the brain, understand more about its impact, and help older adults live more fully and independent lives. Cognitive aging is not just an individual or a family or a health care system challenge. It is an issue that affects the fabric of society and requires actions by many and varied stakeholders. Cognitive Aging offers clear steps that individuals, families, communities, health care providers and systems, financial organizations, community groups, public health agencies, and others can take to promote cognitive health and to help older adults live fuller and more independent lives. Ultimately, this report calls for a societal commitment to cognitive aging as a public health issue that requires prompt action across many sectors.

Originally published in 1995, within the previous decade there had been significant developments in our understanding of the learning and motivation, together with the conceptual and cognitive development, of older adults. This understanding had been enhanced by findings from longitudinal studies which were now becoming available. These findings demonstrated the gains that had been made in research. In the past, inappropriately conceived studies have led to the perpetuation of myths and stereotypes about the intellectual development of older people. Special attention is paid in this book to changing perceptions of ageing and intelligence, learning aptitude, memory and intelligence testing. The important topic of ageing and wisdom is also discussed.

The last decade has seen a major growth in research on how memory is used in everyday life. This volume represents a reaction to traditional laboratory-bound studies of the first half of the century which sought to identify the fundamental principles of learning and memory through the use of materials and methods totally divorced from the real world. The new wave of memory research has had considerable success in charting how memory develops, the role it plays in educational and social skills and the impact of memory impairment on mental life. The current volume consists of authoritative reviews of this emerging area linked to comment and criticism from major researchers in the field. Contrasted, probably for the first time, are two major styles of research in applied memory research: The naturalistic approach, which has sought to study memory in everyday environments, using actual experiences from people's lives as the raw data from which to derive more general principles, and the applied cognitive approach, whereby theories and methods are developed using orthodox laboratory techniques which are then validated by applying them directly to real phenomena. This is one of the few books to bring together evidence across the very wide spectrum of humdrum activity that constitutes the everyday uses of memory.

This volume examines positive development across adulthood with particular emphasis on postformal thought. The editors acknowledge that researchers have compiled a substantial body of descriptive evidence about the styles of thinking used by adults under certain conditions. The questions that remain are whether these styles reflect qualitative changes; how these styles develop; whether there are necessary precursors; why there is content specificity; what the relationship is to physiological or neurological development; whether adults can deliberately control postformal thought; how postformal thought develops in different cultures; what key developmental experiences, if any, are needed for postformal thought to develop; and what postformal thought means in a practical sense. These questions are addressed by the research and theory discussed in this volume. The contributors reflect a diversity of backgrounds assumptions, disciplines, and methods. Postformal thought and its correlates are described from physiological, psychological, sociological, anthropological, and clinical perspectives.

Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Eighth Edition, tackles the biological and environmental influences on behavior as well as the reciprocal interface between changes in the brain and behavior during the course of the adult life span. The psychology of aging is important to many features of daily life, from workplace and the family, to public policy matters. It is complex, and new questions are continually raised about how behavior changes with age. Providing perspectives on the behavioral science of aging for diverse disciplines, the handbook explains how the role of behavior is organized and how it changes over time. Along with parallel advances in research methodology, it explicates in great detail patterns and sub-patterns of behavior over the lifespan, and how they are affected by biological, health, and social interactions. New topics to the eighth edition include preclinical neuropathology, audition and language comprehension in adult aging, cognitive interventions and neural processes, social interrelations, age differences in the connection of mood and cognition, cross-cultural issues, financial decision-making and capacity, technology, gaming, social networking, and more. Tackles the biological and environmental influences on behavior as well as the reciprocal interface between changes in the brain and behavior during the course of the adult life span Covers the key areas in psychological gerontology research in one volume Explains how the role of behavior is organized and how it changes over time Completely revised from the previous edition New chapter on gender and aging process