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BOOK REVIEW |
School of Psychology 654 Cherry St. Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0170
Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 6th Edition, edited by James E. Birren and K. Warner Schaie. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 2006, 660 pp., $120.00 (cloth), $59.95 (paper).
A hallmark of the Handbook of the Psychology of Aging series has been that it keeps researchers and students abreast of cutting edge trends in the field of adult development and aging. Each new edition has incorporated contemporary advances in theory, measurement, and technology. The sixth edition reflects such major advancements in the 21st century.
The chapters in the sixth edition edited by James E. Birren and K. Warner Schaie inform and stimulate the reader as to what challenging current directions are most important to further the study of psychology and aging. In order to achieve this goal, the editors enlisted a host of new authors writing on both established and emerging topics in the field. Although some topics are not represented in this edition, the topic areas that are covered reflect important research innovations and trends in the 21st century, such as the proliferating field of cognitive neuroscience, which has been affected by advances in technology and methodology. The new Handbook represents an index of how the impact of a life span developmental perspective has flourished, coupled with other growing areas of research.
A number of the chapters in the Handbook have more fully operationalized life span developmental tenets than those in previous editions, reflecting the tremendous advancements of this perspective proffered by the late Paul Baltes. For example, the methods chapter embraces life span methodological tenets discussed in the past by elucidating the rapidly increasing advancements in methods and interest to investigate intraindividual variability. Similarly, a life span contextual perspective of developmental change in adulthood is more fully embraced in this edition than ever before, i.e., through chapters devoted to the impact of social and emotional context on cognitive functioning. Finally, the idea that behavior and development are influenced by multiple factors is more fully incorporated into the majority of topics covered in the chapters.
Before I outline these aspects of the sixth edition, it is important to note how many of the chapters in the fifth edition foreshadowed the changes and growth represented in the sixth edition. The fifth edition (Birren & Schaie, 2001) aptly lauded the advancements in structural equation modeling and longitudinal analyses and how it moved forward our understanding of reliability, stability, and interindividual differences using such techniques as latent growth curves and autoregressive process models. The issue of intraindividual change and variability was identified as an important area of interest promoting further advancement for the utility of longitudinal analyses. In the previous intervention research methods chapter, a plea was made for more theoretical frameworks for intervention research and to investigate more fully the role of context, motivation, and efficacy. A challenge was put forth in the chapter on cognitive change and brain-behavior relationships for further advancement in brain scanning technology and the need for further theoretical development. The memory chapter argued that future directions will profit from the combined examination of biological indicators at different levels of analysis. The personality chapter argued for future advancements in the need for person-centered approaches. Finally, the chapter on emotion hinted at the importance of linkages with other disciplines, such as cognition. In one way or another, all of these issues have been addressed in the chapters in the sixth edition of the Handbook.
These important issues have been more fully realized in chapters both on well-established topics and new topics. For example, there is now an entire chapter on recent advancements in the study of intraindividual change. The previous chapter on emotion in the fifth edition has morphed into a new chapter on the important linkage between emotion and cognition in the sixth edition. The chapter on cognitive neuroscience reflects the recent explosion of empirical findings as a function of technological advancements and even more importantly, coupled with new theoretical perspectives on age-related changes in cognition, compensatory mechanisms, and emotion, among others. In addition, given cognitive neuroscience technological advancements, the study of cognitive intervention has been taken to new heights. Finally, the role of context in cognitive functioning has also been elevated in prominence revealing important mechanisms underlying cognitive functioning in older adulthood. These are only a few of the new horizons that are offered in the new edition of the Handbook. Although I can only discuss a selected number of the chapters, the Handbook as a whole represents an outstanding compilation of the current directions that psychology and aging research have taken.
Intervention and Behavior
A life span perspective views development as a lifelong adaptive process that highlights the importance of multidirectionality (including gains and losses), multidimensionality, and multiple determination of behavior (Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006). First, a core tenet of life span developmental psychology is that plasticity is a life long process. This is witnessed in a number of the Handbook chapters. For example, intervention research has been taken to new levels in that intervention-related changes are now observed at both the behavioral and neurological levels. The chapters on "Contributions of Cognitive Neuroscience to the Understanding of Behavior and Aging" by Arthur Kramer, Monica Fabiani, and Stanley Colcombe, the chapter on "Memory and Aging" by William Hoyer and Paul Verhaeghen, and the chapter on "Applied Learning and Aging: A Closer Look at Reading," by Bonnie Meyer and Carlee Pollard, describe the growing interest in identifying mechanisms that offset cognitive decline.
Although cognitive training research has continued to flourish, a neuroscience impact on training has burst onto the field, for example, in the neural recruitment of brain structures in older adults. We can now not only observe change in behavior as a result of intervention at the behavioral level but also at the neurological level. Moreover, Kramer and colleagues maintain that future directions in cognitive neuroscience lie in continuing assessments of such interventions as fitness training. The practical impact on understanding how to promote quality of life in older adulthood is massive. This line of reasoning is continued by Hoyer and Verhaeghen who describe compelling evidence of behavioral plasticity in older adulthood. Yet, again, from a life span perspective, these authors caution that that although there is evidence for plasticity across the life span, plasticity of cognitive functions does decline with advancing age.
Social Context and Emotion
Following from a plasticity perspective, researchers are now more interested in placing behavior in a social context. This trend in research has resulted in the broadening of investigations in areas such as cognitive change by acknowledging how age-related changes in cognitive functioning are influenced by multiple factors. This raises questions as to how life experiences, social interactions, beliefs, and emotions influence both our motivations and how we process material. This is evidenced most prominently in the chapters on "Selection, Optimization, and Compensation as Developmental Mechanisms of Adaptive Resource Allocation: Review and Preview" by Michaela Riediger, Shu-Chen Li, and Ulman Lindenberger; "Aging and the Intersection of "Aging and the Intersection of Cognition, Motivation, and Emotions" by Laura Carstensen, Joseph Mikels, and Mara Mather; and "Attitudes toward Aging and Their Effects on Behavior" by Thomas Hess. However, the importance of social context is reflected in numerous other chapters.
A number of chapters focus on the facilitative role of social context on older adults' adaptive functioning. This is revealed in the chapter by Riediger and colleagues. They further refine the model of selective optimization with compensation (SOC) and provide an expanded version of this meta-theoretical framework that describes processes involved in successful development across the lifespan and in different contexts (see B. B. Baltes & Dickson, 2001). More specifically they further operationalize how a SOC framework can operate to better understand regulatory process of adaptive resource allocation. They demonstrate how the SOC model has stimulated numerous empirical studies. For example, Li, Lindenberger, Freund, and Baltes (2001) found that older adults prioritized walking over memorizing, suggesting selection of the more important domain of functioning. In addition when offered external compensatory aids, older adults optimized their walking while younger adults optimized their memorizing. These findings are consistent with the theoretical ideas of SOC as they show that older adults selectively optimize the domains that are most important to them. As individuals grow older, they use skills that they have learned and aspects of the environment that will aid them in meeting their selected goals. Again, the important role of motivation is emphasized.
The positive role of motivation and social context are further emphasized in the chapter by Carstensen and colleagues on the interface between emotion and cognition. Whereas the fifth edition of the Handbook focused almost exclusively on emotional development, this chapter forges ahead by describing an emerging and proliferating field that demonstrates the important role of motivation and processing goals in understanding cognitive change in a social context in older adulthood. Carstensen and colleagues argue that even as certain basic cognitive mechanisms decline, such as recall or speed of processing, older adults may still possess the emotion processing skills that allow them to function effectively. In other words, decline in performance in cognitive mechanics does not necessarily translate into how cognition operates in a socio-emotional context. Whereas once thought of as a nuisance variable, emotional components of information have been found to lead older adults to differentially process information in comparison to young adults. The chapter convincingly demonstrates how spared emotional processing interfaces with cognitive processing to produce preferential treatment of information in the form of a positivity effect (attention deployed away from negative and towards positive information). The chapter also gives reference to inconsistent findings for emotion-cognitive interfaces. However, growing inconsistencies in the literature regarding the role of positive and negative emotion in older adults' information processing are in need of further explanation and will hopefully be a focus of a future Handbook chapter.
Finally, the importance of placing behavior in an everyday context is highlighted in the chapter on "Everyday Problem Solving and Decision Making" by Michael Marsiske and Jennifer Margrett. Whereas social context is facilitative for older adults when interpersonal, ill-structured problem dilemmas are presented, there is still compelling evidence for negative age-related effects for more instrumental, well-structured tasks. However, it should be noted that this chapter focuses on problem-solving tasks that are highly related to fluid intelligence abilities. There is a growing compilation of research focusing more on ill-structured interpersonal problem solving. Ill-structured problems are unpredictable and continually transforming. They require individuals to appraise the demands of the situation and decide between many potentially effective solutions depending upon the trade-offs they are willing to make. This is an area where older adults can draw on social context experience and they have been shown to outperform young adults. With this growing area, future Handbook chapters on this area need to incorporate a more complete picture of everyday problem solving in older adulthood.
In a chapter by Thomas Hess, internalized social context and how this can negatively affect behavior take center stage. Hess convincingly describes evidence that internalized societal attitudes in others and in the aging adult influence behavior of older adults. The chapter particularly focuses on how negative attitudes about aging degrade the cognitive performance of older adults. Although addressed in the chapter, there are a host of remaining questions regarding the mechanisms underlying the influence of attitudes on behavior. Understanding the mechanisms by which stereotypes and attitudes have an impact on memory will result in a better understanding of when social context is debilitative for older adults. Just as important, it will also allow for a better understanding of those contexts that might facilitate older adults' cognitive performance.
In a similar fashion this is further emphasized in the chapter on "Language Comprehension and Production in Normal Aging" by Robert Thornton and Leah Light. They devote a lengthy section to the role of "elderspeak," which is to some extent driven by stereotypical expectations of older conversational partners. Again, it is suggested that negative assumptions about how older adults communicate can lead to inappropriate over accommodation in speech on the part of young adults, i.e., talking down to older adults. This can give rise to reductions in self-esteem and communication efficacy, among others.
Furthermore, the chapters that cover health, personality, wisdom, and autobiography reflect the increasing importance of placing behaviors in a socioemotional context of everyday living. Overall, these chapters underscore the idea that functioning must be examined in terms of individual, social, emotional, and cultural variations as well as their interactions (Baltes et al., 2006).
Intraindividual Variability
Historically, intraindividual variability has often been considered measurement error or noise (Luszcz, 2004). More recently, however, problems associated with this approach suggest that it is unclear whether performance measured at a specific point in time is representative of the person's typical performance. And it is questionable whether the differences found between people of different ages are equivalent to the changes that occur within individuals. This is the topic of the chapter on "Design and Analysis of Longitudinal Studies on Aging," by Scott Hofer and Martin Sliwinski. They argue that many human phenomena are nonergodic, that is inter-individual and intra-individual variability are not equivalent (Molennaar, 2004). Thus, attention has been refocused to studying the individual as the unit for the observation of developmental change by investigating individual differences in intraindividual variability. As indicated above, this approach has also been referred to as the person-centered or idiographic approach (Baltes, Reese, & Nesselroade, 1977; Magnusson, 2001; Molenaar, 2004; Nesselroade, 2001, 2004) and was promoted for future research in the area of personality. Accordingly, this current resurgence of interest in intra-individual variability is nicely demonstrated in the chapter on "Personality and Aging" by Daniel Mroczek, Avron Spiro, and Paul Griffin.
New statistical analytical procedures to analyze longitudinal data are described that consider such variability in long term studies of intraindividual change. These studies have furthered our understanding of individual differences in rate of change in personality traits. An area that has received considerable attention in the psychological literature in the past decade, and reflected in these chapters, is the importance of studying short-term intraindividual variability. As indicated in the chapter by Daniel Mroczek and colleagues, short-term variability may be an important predictor of different outcomes over and above mean levels of functioning.
Overall, the important point is made that measuring performance using single assessments is questionable given that considerable short-term variation and inter-individual differences in short-term variation are found even for highly reliable measures, e.g., in cognitive functioning (Salthouse, Nesselroade, & Berish, 2006). A life span perspective is used to interpret such variability; early in the life span a high amount of intra-individual variability may reflect plasticity and the potential to grow and advance. However, increased intra-individual variability may take on a different role in older adulthood and reflect a decrease in the integrity of the system (Hultsch & MacDonald, 2004; Li & Lindenberger, 2002). As such the intra-individual variability that is associated with temporary states is of high significance to understanding age-related changes that occur across the life span (see Hultsch & MacDonald, 2004). Theories of adult development need to incorporate both mean levels and variability in performance to account for age-associated developmental phenomena.
Health and Optimal Aging
Health has been considered an important outcome of optimal development across the life span (Rowe & Kahn, 1997). A major complaint regarding the health and aging literature is that it routinely lacks theoretical perspective. An attempt to remedy this situation can be found in the chapter on "Health, Behavior, and Optimal Aging: A Life Span Developmental Perspective," by Carolyn Aldwin, Avron Spiro, and Crystal Park. By couching health and optimal aging in a life span perspective, they reveal that in recent years, attention in the field has changed towards considering health as a process that is related to other changes in the individual. This chapter also highlights the dynamic interplay between health and other areas of functioning including cognition, religiosity, wisdom, and personality, among others. Of course, the issue of causal relationship between health and functioning needs further attention. As indicated above, the Kramer et al. chapter demonstrates how inroads have been made in intervention studies demonstrating that exercise training increases cognitive performance. Additional theoretical work on the specific mechanisms of health behaviors needs to be theoretically and empirically investigated.
Neuroscience and Cognitive Aging
Considering that behavior is influenced by multiple factors, as well as the importance of multiple levels of analysis, progress in neuroscience and aging embraces the spirit of a life span developmental perspective. The 21st century has been called the century of the brain, catapulted by recent technological advances, with the development of noninvasive technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The chapter by Kramer and colleagues outlines how neuroscientific approaches have been applied to research questions regarding cognitive aging and, importantly, further elaborates on theories of cognitive aging. Whereas classic cognitive aging theories were developed on behavioral data, the recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have revealed findings that enhance theoretical explanations of normal and pathological aging. For example, researchers find greater nonselective activation of brain regions in the aging brain, i.e., older adults' brains tend to show neural activation in regions that are not used by younger adults. How this has advanced theory in cognitive aging is exemplified in two models that attempt to explain these findings: the HAROLD Model by Cabeza and his colleagues (Cabeza, 2000) and the CRUNCH Model developed by Reuter-Lorenz and her colleagues (Reuter-Lorenz, 2002; Reuter-Lorenz & Mikels, 2006).
Although not explored in the Kramer et al. chapter, researchers have also recently applied neuroscientific techniques to investigate processing preferences for emotional compared to neutral information in older adults (Mather, Canli, English, et al., 2004). This link with the behavioral evidence for emotion-cognitive interface at the behavioral level will most likely be a topic of interest in future Handbooks.
It should also be noted that because of the relatively new technologies, the field is still in its infancy and no definite conclusions can be drawn at this point in time. For example, questions remain as to whether overactivation found in older brains relative to younger adults reflects successful compensation or reflects greater cognitive deficits.
I have highlighted a number of the recent advances in the study of psychology and aging described in the sixth edition of the Handbook. These have centered on more explicit operationalization of life span developmental tenets along with increased attention to intra-individual variability, neuroscience, and socioemotional context. I have not given justice to all the other excellent chapters in this Handbook. However, overall, the spirit of multidisciplinary approaches to the study of psychology and aging is alive and well. What makes this Handbook edition unique is the explicit focus on linkages between disciplines in entire chapters such as the link between emotion and cognition and social context and cognition, and within chapters such as the link between exercise and cognition as well as health and multiple behavioral domains of functioning. Behavior is indeed influenced by multiple factors and we are becoming much more adept at incorporating multiple levels of analysis in our approach to studying changes in the psychology of aging.
References
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