Psychology
450: Psychology of the Mature Years
(Psychology of Adulthood)
Spring 2000
Instructor: David Mitchell Offices: 601 Lewis Towers, 653 Damen Hall
Phone: 312-915-7406; FAX: -7401 E-mail: DMitch@LUC.edu
Hours: Wednesdays 10-Noon (LSC), immediately
after class, and by appointment
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This
course deals with the effects of normal aging on behavior. Coverage includes normative age-related changes in biological, neurological,
sensory/perceptual, cognitive, personality, and social psychological
processes. In addition, unique aspects
of old age, neuropsychological and psychopathological problems associated with
aging, and other aging-related topics will be reviewed. The class will be run in a seminar format,
with a mixture of lectures, audio-visuals, and special presentations. You are expected to have fundamental
knowledge of developmental psychology and research methods, to complete the
readings before class, and to be an active participant in class.
wAll students in this course are expected to adhere to the standards of
"academic honesty" as set forth in the section on Scholastic
Regulations in the Loyola University Graduate School Catalog
1996-1999 (p. 18). w
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COURSE OUTLINE ----------------------------------
Date Topic and Readings
Jan.
19 Introduction
and Demographics
Abeles, 1998; Birren, 1958, 1983;
“Profile of Older
Americans: 1999” (http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/aoa/stats/statpage.html)
Jan.
26 Theoretical
Issues & Research Methods
Baltes, Staudinger, & Lindenberger, 1999;
Birren & Schroots, 1996; Hertzog, 1996; High & Doole, 1995*
Feb. 2 Biology of Aging
Aiken, 1998; Rose, 1999; Rowe & Kahn, 1997; Weindruch, 1996
Feb. 9 Brain & Sleep (Essay 1 due)
Brain: Morrison & Hof, 1997; Raz, 2000 or Scheibel, 1996; Selkoe, 1992;
Sleep: Morgan,
1987
Feb.
23 Learning
and Memory (Essay 2 due)
Howard,
1996; Mitchell, 1995; Rubin, 2000
March
15 Personality (Essay 3 due)
Costa, Metter, & McCrae, 1994; McCrae & Costa, 1994;
Ruth & Coleman, 1996; Stewart & Ostrove, 1998; Tellegen et al., 1988
March
22 Social
Psychology
Blanchard-Fields & Abeles, 1996; Pratt & Norris, 1994b
March 29 Psychopathology (Essay 4 due )
APA, 1998 à Somerfield & Costa, 1999;
Butler, Lewis, & Sunderland, 1998; Cherry &
Plauche, 1996; Mitchell, 1996
April 5 Old Age; Death & Dying
(Essay 5)
Kapp, 1998*;
Perls, 1995; Skinner, 1983
Horgan, 1997;
Kapp, 1993; McNeilly & Hillary, 1997
April
12 Semester
Project Presentations
April
19 Semester
Project Presentations (continued)
April
27 Passover;
no class
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*Ethics
will be addressed throughout the course in segments marked by asterisks.
1. Review topic deadline.............January
26
2. Term Project topic deadline....February 2
3. Begin volunteer work..............week of
Feb. 7th
4. Begin Presentations................April 12
5. Term Paper deadline...............April 12
6.
Final
Exam.............................May 3
Course
Requirements
1.
READINGS & REACTIONS. You
are expected to do the assigned readings before coming to class. Copies of readings will be on reserve at
LUCCAS (WTC) and the Psychology Department (LSC), or you may look up the
original source (listed below in the Reference list). In addition to completing all of the readings, pick five readings
to use for a typed reaction essay
(1-page maximum) for each. These may be
turned in early, but no later than the date of that topic (see course outline).
2.
EXAMINATIONS. Unless you wish
otherwise, there will be no midterm. There
will be a take-home final exam, based on lectures, presentations, and
readings.
3. TOPIC REVIEW PRESENTATION. Pick one review reading (listed on the
course outline). Your job is to outline
this review, and to lead a discussion on that topic. At a minimum, bring copies of your outline to the class. If you find other interesting related
material, bring that as well and/or list additional references on your outline
sheet. This presentation will be made
by each student alone.
4.
TERM PROJECT. You have three
options for a semester project: 1) a
traditional bibliographic review term paper; 2) an empirical research proposal
(with or without actual data collection); 3) volunteer experience with elderly
adults. If you choose #1 (review of an
area of aging research), your paper should take the form of a review article,
as in the journal Psychological Bulletin. If you choose #2 (a research proposal) this will contain standard
sections: Introduction, Method,
hypothesized Results, and Discussion.
You may choose any topic that interests you, as long as it involves
behavior and aging. Textbooks (see a
list at the end) are good sources for topic ideas, as are the books and
aging-related journals listed on the publications handout. Your topic should be relatively
circumscribed so that you can go into some depth. You should verify soon
that the relevant materials are available at Loyola or other (nearby or
accessible) libraries. You may decide
to do some research outside of the library as well, e.g., by interviewing
professionals in the field of aging, etc.
You may work alone or with a partner.
If you choose #3, experience with the
elderly, you must be involved in some
volunteer
program for a minimum of 2-4 hours per week for 10 weeks, which means starting
no later than the week of Feb. 7th. You will keep a daily or weekly
diary of your
experiences. At the end, you will relate your experiences
to theory and research
encountered
in this course in a brief summary.
Your paper (#1 or #2) must be typed
double-spaced in APA format. (The APA Publication Manual is available at the reference desks in the Science Library
and Lewis Library.) Page limit:
30. The diaries themselves do not have
to be typed, but the summary (3-page limit) must be typed double-spaced. Late papers or diaries will lose one letter
grade per day.
5.
PROJECT PRESENTATION. Each
student will make a presentation of the term project to the class. Your presentation should take the format of
a lecture/discussion, and must fit within a 45-minute time period. An outline, with five or more pertinent
references, should be turned in the class meeting before the presentation so
that copies can be made for the class.
Your instructor will be glad to help with any audio- or visual-aids
needs that you may have. Starting April
12th, we'll have 3 presentations per class. The presentation can be based entirely on
your term project, or it may be a different topic. You may present your topic alone or with a partner.
GRADING
Your semester grade will be based on five
sources: 1) reaction essays (5 X 10) =
50
points;
2) final exam (100 points); 3) chapter topic presentation (50 points); 4) diary
or write-up of term project (100 points); 5) class lecture/presentation= 100
points; 5). Class participation will be graded only if you miss more than one
class. If you elect to do #4 and/or #5
with a partner, both of you will receive the same grade. Semester grades will be assigned
approximately as follows: >360= A; >320= B; >280= C; >240= D;
<240= F.
References
Abeles, N.
(1998). President’s report: The
aging revolution. American Psychologist,
53, 854-857.
Aiken, L.R. (1998).
The aging human body. Chapter 2
in Human development in adulthood (pp.
27-50).
New York: Plenum Press.
American Psychological Association. (1998).
Guidelines for the evaluation of dementia and age-related cognitive
decline. American Psychologist, 53, 1298-1303.
Baltes, P.B.
(1997). On the incomplete
architecture of human ontogeny. American Psychologist, 52, 366-380.
Baltes, P.B., & Staudinger, U.M. (1993). The search for a psychology of wisdom. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 2, 75-80.
Baltes, P.B., Staudinger, U.M., & Lindenberger,
U. (1999). Lifespan psychology: Theory
and application to intellectual functioning.
Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 471-507.
Berg, C.A., & Klaczynski, P.A. (1996). Practical intelligence and problem solving:
Searching for perspectives. In F.
Blanchard-Fields & T.M. Hess (Eds.).
Perspectives on cognitive change in adulthood and aging
(pp. 323-357). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Birren, J.E.
(1958). Why study aging? American
Psychologist, 13, 292-296.
Birren, J.E.
(1983). Aging in America: Roles for psychology. American
Psychologist, 38, 298-299.
Birren, J.E., & Schroots, J.J.F. (1996). History, concepts, and theory in the
psychology of aging. In J.E. Birren
& K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the
Psychology of Aging (4th ed., pp.
3-23). San Diego: Academic Press.
Blanchard-Fields, F., & Abeles, R. P. (1996).
Social cognition and aging. In J.E. Birren & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging
(4th ed., pp. 150-161). San Diego: Academic Press.
Butler, R.N., Lewis, M.I., & Sunderland, T.
(1998). Common psychiatric
disorders. Chapter 5 in Aging and mental health (5th
ed., pp. 94-123). Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
Cherry, K.E., & Plauche, M.F. (1996). Memory impairment in Alzheimer’s
Disease: Findings, interventions, and
implications. Journals of Clinical Geropsychology, 2, 263-296.
Cherry, K.E., & Smith, A.D. (1998). Normal memory aging. In M. Hersen & V. B. Van Hasselt (Eds.),
Handbook of Clinical Geropsychology
(pp. 87-110). New York: Plenum Press.
Costa, P.T., Metter, E.J., & McCrae, R.R. (1994).
Personality stability and its contribution to successful aging. Journal
of Geriatric Psychiatry, 27, 41-59.
Hertzog, C. (1996).
Research design in studies of aging and cognition. In J.E. Birren & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging
(4th ed., pp. 24-37). San Diego: Academic Press.
High, D.M., & Doole, M.M. (1995). Ethical and legal issues in conducting
research involving elderly subjects. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 13, 319-335.
Horgan, J. (1997, May). Seeking a better way to die.
Scientific American, pp.
100-105.
Howard, D.V. (1996). The aging of implicit and explicit memory. In F. Blanchard-Fields
& T.M. Hess (Eds.). Perspectives
on cognitive change in adulthood and aging (pp. 221-254). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Kapp, M.B. (1993).
Living and dying in the Jewish way: Secular rights and religious
duties. Death Studies, 17, 267-276.
Kapp, M.B. (1998).
One among us: Individual compassion versus Jewish community
welfare. In The Park Ridge Center Bulletin, 6, (November/December), 4-5.
Madden, D.J., & Plude, D.J. (1993). Selective preservation of selective
attention. In J. Cerella, J. Rybash, W.
Hoyer, & M.L. Commons (Eds.), Adult
information processing: Limits on loss (pp. 273-300). San Diego: Academic Press.
McCrae, R.R., & Costa, P.T. (1994). The stability of personality: Observations and evaluations. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 3, 173-175.
McNeilly, D.P., & Hillary, K. (1997). The hospice decision: Psychosocial
facilitators and barriers. OMEGA, 35, 193-217.
Mitchell, D.B. (1995). Semantic processes in
implicit memory: Aging with meaning. In
P.A. Allen & T.R. Bashore (Eds.), Age
differences in word and language
processing (pp. 110-142).
Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
Mitchell, D.B.
(1996). Memory and language
deficits in Alzheimer's Disease. In
R.L. Dippel & J.T. Hutton (Eds.), Caring
for the Alzheimer Patient (3rd ed., pp. 88-102). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Morgan, K. (1987).
Sleep: Typical age-related changes.
In Sleep and Aging (pp.
20-47). Baltimore: JohnsHopkins Press.
Morrison, J.H., & Hof, P.R. (1997). Life and death of neurons in the aging
brain. Science, 278, 412-419.
Perls, T.T. (1995, January). The oldest old. Scientific American,
pp. 50-55.
Plude, D.J., Schwartz, L.K., & Murphy, L.J.
(1996). Active selection and inhibition
in the aging of attention. In T. Blanchard-Fields & T.M. Hess (Eds.) Perspectives
on cognitive change in adulthood and aging (pp. 165-191). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Pratt, M.W., & Norris, J.E. (1994a). Decision-making, wisdom, and moral
judgment. Chapter 7 in The social psychology of aging (pp.
142-175). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Pratt, M.W., & Norris, J.E. (1994b). Thinking about relationships. Chapter 5 in The social psychology of aging (pp. 94-114).
Raz, N. (2000).
Aging of the brain and its impact on cognitive performance: Integration
of structural and functional findings.
In F.I.M. Craik & T.A. Salthouse (Eds)., The handbook of aging and cognition (2nd ed., pp.
1-90). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rogers, W.A. (2000). Attention and aging. In D. Park & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Cognitive Aging: A Primer (pp. 57-73). Philadelphia:
Psychology Press.
Rose, M.R. (1999).
Can human aging be postponed? Scientific
American (December), 106-111.
Rowe, J.W., & Kahn, R.L. (1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37,
433-440.
Rubin, D.C. (2000). Autobiographical memory and
aging. In D. Park & N. Schwarz
(Eds.), Cognitive Aging: A Primer
(pp. 131-149). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Ruth, J-E., & Coleman, P. (1996). Personality and aging: Coping and management
of the self in later life. In In J.E.
Birren & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook
of the Psychology of Aging (4th
ed., pp. 308-322). San Diego:
Academic Press.
Schaie, K.W. (1994). The course of adult intellectual development. American
Psychologist, 49, 304-313.
Scheibel, A. B. (1996). Structural and functional changes in the aging brain. In J.E. Birren & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging
(4th ed., pp. 105-128). San Diego: Academic Press.
Schieber, F., & Baldwin, C.L. (1996). Vision, audition, and aging research. In T. Blanchard-Fields & T.M. Hess
(Eds.) Perspectives on cognitive change in adulthood and aging (pp.
122-162). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Schroots, J.J.F., & Birren, J.E. (1990).
Concepts of time and aging in science.
In J.E. Birren & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging (3rd ed., pp. 45-64). San Diego: Academic Press.
Selkoe, D.J.
(1992, September). Aging brain,
aging mind. Scientific American, pp. 134-142.
Simonton, D.K. (1990). Does creativity decline in
the later years? Definition, data, and
theory. In M. Perlmutter (Ed.), Late life potential (pp. 83-112). Washington,
DC: Gerontological Society of America.
Skinner, B. F. (1983). Intellectual self-management in old age. American
Psychologist, 38, 239-244.
Somerfield, M.R., & Costa, P.T. (1999). Toward
more evidence-based guidelines for psychology. American Psychologist, 54, 1131-1132.
Stewart, A.J., & Ostrove, J.M. (1998). Women’s personality in middle age. American Psychologist, 53, 1185-1194.
Tellegen, A., Lykken, D.T., Bouchard, T.J., Wilcox,
K.J., Segal, N.L., & Rich, S.
(1988). Personality similarity
in twins reared apart and together. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 54, 1031-1039.
Weindruch, R. (1996, January). Caloric restriction and aging. Scientific American, pp. 46-52.
Some
Suggested Textbooks (if you need more background in the basics):
A. General—Undergraduate Level
Belsky, J.
(1999). The psychology of aging (3rd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Hoyer, W.J., Rybash, J.M., & Roodin, P.A.
(1999). Adult development and aging (4th ed.). Boston:
McGraw-Hill.
Schulz, R., & Ewen, R. B. (1999). Adult development and aging (3rd
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
B. Specialized—Graduate Level
Blanchard-Fields, F., & Hess, T.M. (1996). Perspectives on cognitive change in adulthood
and aging. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Butler, R.N., Lewis, M.I., & Sunderland, T.
(1998). Aging and Mental Health
(5th Ed.) Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.
Cavanaugh, J.C., & Whitbourne, S.K. (1999). Gerontology:
An Interdisciplinary Perspective.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Lawton, M.P., & Salthouse, T.A. (Eds.)
(1998). Essential Papers on the Psychology of Aging. New York: New York University Press.
Lichtenberg, P.A. (Ed.) (1999). Handbook
of Assessment in Clinical Gerontology.
New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Nordhus, I.H., VandenBos, G.R., Berg, S., &
Fromholt, P. (1998) (Eds.) Clinical Geropsychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Pratt, M.W., & Norris, J.E. (1994). The social psychology of aging. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Smyer, M.A., & Qualls, S.H. (1999). Aging and Mental Health. Malden,
MA: Blackwell.
Woodruff-Pak, D.S. (1997). The Neuropsychology of aging. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
To direct comments about the information contained in these pages, please write to marsiske@ufl.edu