Handbook of the Psychology of Aging

K Warner Schaie, Sherry L. Willis

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9780123808837
• Edition: 7
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Cognitive Psychology & Cognition
• Index: Psychology

The Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Seventh Edition, provides a basic reference source on the behavioral processes of aging for researchers, graduate students, and professionals. It also provides perspectives on the behavioral science of aging for researchers and professionals from other disciplines. The book is organized into four parts. Part 1 reviews key methodological and analytical issues in aging research. It examines some of the major historical influences that might provide explanatory mechanisms for a better understanding of cohort and period differences in psychological aging processes. Part 2 includes chapters that discuss the basics and nuances of executive function; the history of the morphometric research on normal brain aging; and the neural changes that occur in the brain with aging. Part 3 deals with the social and health aspects of aging. It covers the beliefs that individuals have about how much they can control various outcomes in their life; the impact of stress on health and aging; and the interrelationships between health disparities, social class, and aging. Part 4 discusses the emotional aspects of aging; family caregiving; and mental disorders and legal capacities in older adults.

• Contains all the main areas of psychological gerontological research in one volume
• Entire section on neuroscience and aging
• Begins with a section on theory and methods
• Edited by one of the father of gerontology (Schaie) and contributors represent top scholars in gerontology

PART 1

Concepts, Theory, and Methods in the Psychology of Aging

Chapter 1 Enduring Theoretical Themes in Psychological Aging

Chapter 2 Methodological and Analytical Issues in the Psychology of Aging

Chapter 3 Historical Influences on Aging and Behavior

Chapter 1

Enduring Theoretical Themes in Psychological Aging
Derivation, Functions, Perspectives, and Opportunities

Roger A. Dixon

Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Introduction

Characterizing the Theoretical Landscape in Psychological Aging

Featured Theorists: Identifying and Integrating Enduring Theoretical Themes

Selections from James E. Birren

Overview

Approach to Theoretical Considerations in Psychological Aging

Theoretical Themes: Global- Local, Complexity, Aging Change, Differential Role

Special Attention to the Role of Chronological Age

Conclusions about Birren

Selections from Paul B. Baltes

Overview

Prominent Themes 1: Aging Change, Balancing Trajectories, Complexity, Differential Role, Global-Local

Prominent Themes 2: Linking Global-Local with Chronological Age

Conclusion: Special Emphases of Baltes

Selections from Timothy A. Salthouse

Overview

Nature of the Field and Definitions

Key Themes: Complexity, Global-Local, and Aging Change

Promoting Theoretical Development in Psychological Aging

Selections from Other Theoretical Reviews

The Themes Appear in Other General Commentaries

The Six Themes Appear in Process-Specific or “Local” Theories

Summary

“Populations” of Theoretical Themes and Perspectives in Psychological Aging

A Population of Theories of Psychological Aging

Contributions of Developmental Epidemiological Perspectives

Illustrations: Selected Future Directions for Psychological Theories of Aging

Whither Cognitive/Social/Affect Neurosciences of Aging?

Whither Chronological-Biological-Age Indexes: Has BioAge Come of Age?

Whither Theoretical Implications of Genetic-Epigenetic-Environment- Process Studies?

Toward Explanation in PsychologicalAging: Do “Causes” Hunt in Packs?Do “Effects” Assemble in Patterns or Disperse and Flee?

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

Introduction

From its earliest editions, the editors of the Handbook of the Psychology of Aging (hereafter, Handbook) series have wisely included informative theoretical, methodological, and historical chapters. On one recent autumn afternoon, I oriented to my upper-level bookshelf containing most editions of this archival series, closed my eyes, and randomly pulled one volume from the shelf. By chance, it was the 20-year-old third edition (Birren & Schaie, 1990), which I opened to the table of contents. As expected, this volume features three chapters in this influential tradition, including contributions to (a) theories and history of the developmental approach to aging (Birren & Birren, 1990), (b) novel (then, but still relevant) methods for analyzing differential and common developmental change (McArdle & Anderson, 1990), and (c) the still important (and unresolved) concepts of chronological age and developmental time in human aging theory and research (Schroots & Birren, 1990). Notably, these three chapters welcomed a reprised inspection, for they had tapped into persistently important themes, issues, and characteristics of psychological aging scholarship. Understandably, the content chapters reflect the texture of the era (e.g., Hultsch & Dixon, 1990). Still curious, I repeated this exercise on several Handbook editions, with the same outcome. To the credit of the field of psychological aging and of the Handbook editors, successive volumes have regularly and systematically presented chapters examining (a) wide-ranging theoretical derivations, underpinnings, and implications; (b) methodological principles and practices relevant to the theoretical study of aging-related change and variability; and (c) illuminative historical roots, conceptual tendencies, and evolutionary trajectories (e.g., Birren & Schroots, 2001; Schaie, 2010).

The overall purpose of this chapter is to fill a niche in the well-established ecology of psychological theories of aging. Four main goals are pursued. First, I note a perspective on the theoretical context of theories of psychological aging. The tenor of this section is more pragmatic-theoretical than global-metatheoretical. Second, I selectively and briefly review theoretical writings from the past 50 years, focusing on the chapter authors previously featured in this Handbook series. Six historically valid, recurring themes or lessons are identified, each of which provides points of contact across developmental processes, theoretical perspectives, and historical periods. Subsequently, I briefly adumbrate several other recent contributions to the literature on theories of psychological aging with attention to the six enduring themes previously identified. Third, these coordinated perspectives and enduring themes provide a foundation upon which to evaluate current theoretical efforts and evolve new and more adaptive ones. Fourth, compelling opportunities for new theoretical advances in psychological aging are provided by new developments in neighboring disciplines, a selection of which are noted in this section. The general goal of this chapter is not one of producing a global or unified theory of psychological aging. Instead, it aims to (a) explain why such a goal may not be among the principal standards or objectives for researchers in this field, and (b) support the contention that theoretical opportunities and advances based on a population of adapted themes and theories are nevertheless plentiful, functional, and promising.

Characterizing the Theoretical Landscape in Psychological Aging

Just as no history of a science is without the influence of the historian and his or her historiography, no review of scientific theory exists independently of the filtering lens through which the theorists read, interpret, and write (Hanson, 1958) or the historically evolving conceptual, social, professional, and scientific circumstances of the era (e.g., Kuhn, 1962; Pepper, 1970; Toulmin, 1972). In the past in life-span psychological research, such observations have often led to discussion of scientific paradigms, metatheories, and world views, as they applied to the study of individual development and aging (e.g., Baltes & Willis, 1977; Dixon & Lerner, 1999; Reese & Overton, 1970). This is not the present purpose for three related reasons. First, the general lesson has been learned in that it is probably apparent to most contemporary readers that theories and research methods are informed by underlying (and often untestable) assumptions, models, metaphors, and perspectives (Overton & Reese, 1973). Second, for this reason this particular line of theoretical-historical inquiry has not been particularly active or overtly influential in recent years, at least in the field of psychological aging. Third, one reason it has become both an acknowledged background condition and yet rarely cited or targeted for research is that the field may have moved to a post-paradigmatic period of interdisciplinary, integrative, and even pragmatic perspectives and research. Perhaps in the earlier paradigmatic-centered period metatheoretical differences were accentuated (if not magnified). If so, in a post-paradigmatic period metatheoretical differences (if relevant) may be less likely to restrict or interrupt the pragmatic reconnaissance of (even small) plots of common ground and the probing expansion of these commonalities along shared conceptual and empirical boundaries.

Nevertheless, to recap briefly, the paradigmatic view has held that, because the underlying tendencies of different meta-approaches may be in fundamental conceptual competition, the derived theories may be incommensurable and the associated data collected to test the theories may be mutually unacceptable. This systemic and often static incommensurability may exist even when the research is addressed to common levels of analysis or evidently similar developmental phenomena (Dixon et al., 1991). As a brief illustration, scholars studying the intriguing phenomena of late-life potential or adaptive success can address different (even nonoverlapping) aspects from a variety of largely unshared conceptual and methodological perspectives. These include (a) post-formal or dialectical operations; (b) naturally occurring differential trajectories and protection factors; (c) social-emotional regulation, adaptivity, and influences; (d) cognitive or self reserve, plasticity, or expertise; (e) pragmatic cognitive-personal resilience or compensation; and (f) multiple forms of healthy or successful aging (e.g., Baltes & Baltes, 1990; Ericsson & Smith, 1991; Labouvie-Vief, 1980; Pushkar et al., 1998; Schaie & Carstensen, 2006; Vaillant, 2002). However, paradigm-level perspectives are viewed also as changing, fallible, modifiable, responsive to data, and adaptive (or not). In addition, such metatheoretical perspectives may be inextricably interdisciplinary, theories may be more flexible and pluralistic, methods are definitely more comprehensive and powerful, and the research goals may become more pragmatic and integrative. Specifically, research may become less characterized by how it contributes to a covering metatheory or global theory. Instead, theoretically and clinically significant research may be evaluated in terms of how functional they are, regardless of the academic sources of ideas, levels of analyses (biological, individual–psychological, social–cultural), or the simplicity–complexity of results.

Featured Theorists: Identifying and Integrating Enduring Theoretical Themes

The Handbook chapters (and related work) of three previous contributors are reviewed and tapped as source material for identifying and integrating key enduring themes of psychological theories of aging. The three contributors are James E. Birren, Paul B. Baltes, and Timothy A. Salthouse. Six common and enduring theoretical themes were identified inductively from these authors’ Handbook (and other) chapters. These themes are used as points of contact and complementarity in the discussion of each contributor’s theoretical work (see also Table 1.1). To preview, the themes are (a) global-local, or the relative theoretical goal of broader or more narrow theories; ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• The Handbooks of Aging
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• About the Editors
• PART 1: Concepts, Theory, and Methods in the Psychology of Aging
• PART 2: Neuroscience, Cognition and Aging
• PART 3: Social and Health Factors that Impact Aging
• PART 4: Complex Behavioral Processes and Psychopathology of Aging
• Author Index
• Subject Index