Funding Opportunities

National Institute on Aging

Adult Psychological Development

The Adult Psychological Development Branch supports research and research training concerned with environmental, social, and behavioral influences on cognitive functioning, personality, attitudes, and interpersonal relationships over the life course.

The Cognitive Functioning and Aging Section focuses attention on how external factors such as structure of the task and internal psychological process such as motivation and emotional state influence differences among people and affect a person's functioning over the life course. Examples of topics are: perceptual skills and memory strategies; reading, hearing, and speech comprehension; individual differences in cognitive functioning; problem-solving and decision-making (e.g., expertise); interplay between health and cognition; interplay between cognitive and social factors (e.g., effects of attribution on cognitive functioning); social cognition; cognition in special populations (e.g., mental retardation); and interventions (e.g., training) to maintain or improve cognitive functioning; interplay between biological and behavioral factors. Research to develop standardized methods of cognitive assessment and general methodological research are also encouraged.

The Cognitive Functioning and Aging Section also seeks biomedical, behavioral, and social applications with a human factors emphasis. That is, applications that relate the skills, capacity, and functioning of older adults to the activities in which they engage and the environments that they encounter. Research is encouraged that optimizes environments, tasks, and equipment for older people and identifies interventions designed to improve functioning and enhance quality of life. Examples of topics are older drivers, older pilots, computer interaction, older adults in the workforce (including studies of skill acquisition and retention, as well as expertise), and new technologies that aid in the prevention of disability and its amelioration. Research is solicited which answers questions such as:

  • 1) how and why in given environments, do older and younger adults differ in their activities;
  • 2) what are the most appropriate measures of functional capacities of older and younger adults in relation to particular tasks and environments;
  • 3) how does modifying the older person-environment interact with functional capacity?

    • A Human Factors Program Announcement is available that describes these topics in more detail.

    A Request for Applications seeks applications to pursue a cooperative field trial of a cognitive or related perceptual intervention to maintain and promote independent functioning among older adults who are at increased risk of loss of independence through hospitalization, need for formal care, or other major restriction in quality of life. The deadline for receipt of applications for the Request for Applications is March 20, 1996.

    The Personality and Social Psychological Aging Section emphasizes the dynamic interplay among psychological processes and personal relationships in the immediate social environment as people age. Examples of topics are: personality changes over the life course; stress and coping behaviors; the relationship between variables such as gender, race, and socioeconomic status and personality over the life course; attitudes, beliefs, and attributional processes; emotion and affect; motivation (goal-directed behavior); life course transitions (e.g., bereavement); life satisfaction; productive behaviors; self concept; perceived self-efficacy and its consequences; interpersonal relationships (work and family) in midlife and old age; and social networks and supports.

    Applications in social cognition are also solicited, particularly on topics such as metacognition, collaborative cognition, life transitions, long-term relationships, emotion, and motivation. Applications are also sought in behavioral genetics, both on cognitive abilities and personality.

    In addition to the traditional research grant (R01), NIA supports new investigator research (R29), minority dissertations (F31), and small business research (R41, R42, R43, R44), as well as providing training awards to established investigators (K1, K4, K7, K8). Currently, the success rate for applications in Adult Psychological Development at NIA is good, with applications being funded to nearly the 20th percentile; around 1 in 4 applications are currently being funded. Investigators contemplating a grant proposal are strongly encouraged to contact program staff before submitting a proposal.

    For more information contact: Jared B. Jobe, Ph.D., Chief, Adult Psychological Development Branch, Gateway Building, Room 533, 7201 Wisconsin Avenue, MSC 9205, Bethesda, MD 20892-9205; (301) 496-

    3137; email: Jared_Jobe@nih.gov.

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