Professional Documents
Culture Documents
50:471–507
Copyright © 1999 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
ABSTRACT
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
THE OVERALL ARCHITECTURE OF LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
Evolutionary Selection Benefits for the Human Genome Decrease Across
the Lifespan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
471
0084-6570/99/0201-0471$08.00
472 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
THE TWO–COMPONENT MODEL OF LIFESPAN INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
INTRODUCTION
Lifespan developmental psychology or lifespan psychology (LP) deals with
the study of individual development (ontogenesis) from conception into old
age (PB Baltes et al 1980, Dixon & Lerner 1988, Neugarten 1996, Thomae
1979). A core assumption of LP is that development is not completed at adult-
hood but that it extends across the entire life course and that from conception
onward lifelong adaptive processes of acquisition, maintenance, transforma-
tion, and attrition in psychological structures and functions are involved. The
simultaneous concern for acquisition, maintenance, transformation, and attri-
tion exemplifies the view of lifespan psychologists that the overall ontogenesis
of mind and behavior is dynamic, multidimensional, multifunctional, and non-
linear (PB Baltes 1997).
Lifespan research and theory is intended to generate knowledge about
three components of individual development: (a) interindividual commonali-
ties (regularities) in development; (b) interindividual differences in develop-
ment; and (c) intraindividual plasticity (malleability) in development. Joint at-
tention to each of these components and the specification of their age-related
interplays are the conceptual and methodological foundations of the develop-
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 473
mental enterprise (PB Baltes et al 1988, Nesselroade 1991, Weinert & Perner
1996).
On a strategic level, there are two ways to construct lifespan theory: person-
centered (holistic) and function-centered. The holistic approach (Magnusson
1996, Smith & Baltes 1997) proceeds from consideration of the person as a
system and attempts to generate a knowledge base about lifespan development
by describing and connecting age periods or states of development into one
overall pattern of lifetime individual development. An example would be Erik-
son’s (1959) theory of eight lifespan stages. Often, this holistic approach to the
life span is identified with life-course psychology (Bühler 1933; see also Elder
1998). The function-centered way to construct lifespan theory is to focus on a
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
velopments, the need for better collaboration among all age specialties of de-
velopmental scholarship has become an imperative of current-day research in
developmental psychology (Cairns 1998, Hetherington et al 1988, Rutter &
Rutter 1993). But for good lifespan theory to evolve, it takes more than court-
ship and mutual recognition. It takes a new effort and serious exploration of
theory that—in the tradition of Tetens (1777)—has as its primary substantive
focus the structure, sequence, and dynamics of the entire life course in a chang-
ing society.
Figure 1 Schematic representation of the average dynamics between biology and culture across
the life span (after PB Baltes 1997). There can be much debate about the specific forms of the
functions, but less about their direction.
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 475
This assertion is in line with the idea that evolutionary selection was tied to
the process of reproductive fitness and its location in the first half of the life
course. This general statement holds true even though indirect positive evolu-
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
tionary selection benefits are carried into old age, for instance, through grand-
parenting (Mergler & Goldstein 1983), coupling, or exaptation (Gould 1984).
This age-associated diminution of evolutionary selection benefits and its
implied association with an age-related loss of biological potential was fur-
ther affected by the fact that in earlier times few people reached old age. Thus,
in addition to the negative correlation between age and selection pressure,
most people died before possible negative genetic attributes were activated or
possible negative biological effects of earlier developmental events became
manifest. The relative neglect during evolution of the second half of life is am-
plified further by other aspects of the biology of aging. For all living systems,
there are costs involved in creating and maintaining life (Finch 1996, Jazwin-
ski 1996, Martin et al 1996, Yates & Benton 1995). For instance, biological ag-
ing involves wear-and-tear as well as the cumulation of errors in genetic repli-
cation and repair.
Age-Related Increase in Need for Culture
The middle part of Figure 1 summarizes the overall perspective on lifespan de-
velopment associated with culture and culture-based processes. By culture, we
mean all the psychological, social, material, and symbolic (knowledge-based)
resources that humans have produced over the millennia. These, as they are
transmitted across generations in increasing quantity and quality, make possi-
ble human development as we know it (Cole 1996, Durham 1991, Valsiner &
Lawrence 1997). Among these cultural resources are cognitive skills, motiva-
tional dispositions, socialization strategies, literacy, written documents, physi-
cal structures, and the world of economics as well that of medical and physical
technology.
The argument for an age-related increase in the “need” for culture has two
parts. First, for human ontogenesis to have reached higher and higher levels of
476 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
The second argument for the proposition relates to the biological weaken-
ing associated with age. That is, the older we are, the more we need culture-
based resources (material, social, economic, psychological) to generate and
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
maintain high levels of functioning. A case in point is that for cognitive effi-
cacy to continue into old age at comparable levels of performance, more cogni-
tive support and training are necessary (PB Baltes & Kliegl 1992, Dixon &
Bäckman 1995, Hoyer & Rybash 1994, Salthouse 1991).
Age-Related Decrease in Efficacy of Culture
The third cornerstone of the overall nature of lifespan development is the life-
span script of a decreasing efficacy of cultural factors and resources. During
the second half of life, and despite the advantages associated with the develop-
mental acquisition of knowledge-based mental representations (Klix 1993),
there is an age-associated reduction in the efficiency of cultural factors, even
though large interindividual and interdomain differences exist in onset and
rate of these losses in efficiency (Hoyer & Rybash 1994, Lindenberger & Bal-
tes 1997, Nelson & Dannefer 1992, Salthouse 1991, Schaie 1996). The older
the adult, the more time and practice it takes to attain the same learning gains.
Moreover, at least in some domains of information processing, and when it
comes to high levels of performance, older adults may not be able to reach the
same levels of functioning as younger adults, even after extensive training and
under positive life circumstances (PB Baltes 1997, PB Baltes & Smith 1997,
Kliegl et al 1989).
There are two causes for this age-related reduction in cultural efficacy or ef-
ficiency. The first is age-related loss in biological potential. The second can be
seen by viewing the life course in analogy to a learning curve and the acquisi-
tion of expertise (Ericsson & Lehmann 1996). Similar to reduced gains in later
phases of learning, more and more effort and better technology are necessary
to produce further advances as during development we reach higher levels of
functioning. Moreover, there is the possibility of age-related increases in nega-
tive transfer and costs of specialized knowledge.
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 477
tion outlined.
Together, the three conditions and trajectories outlined in Figure 1 form a
robust and interrelated fabric (architecture) of the lifespan dynamics between
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
biology and culture. This fabric represents a first tier of lifespan theory (PB
Baltes 1997). For evolutionary and historical reasons, the ontogenetic struc-
ture of the life course displays a kind of unfinished architecture. Whatever the
specific content and form of a given psychological theory of lifespan develop-
ment, it needs to be consistent with the framework outlined.
critical issue for any theory of lifespan development (for related arguments,
see also Brandtstädter & Greve 1994, Brim 1992, Uttal & Perlmutter 1989).
This is true even for those theories that, on the surface, seem to focus only on
growth or positive aging (e.g. Erikson 1959, Labouvie-Vief 1995, McAdams
& de St. Aubin 1998, Perlmutter 1988, Staudinger 1996). In Erikson’s theory,
for instance, acquiring generativity and wisdom is the positive developmental
goal of adulthood. Despite the growth orientation of these constructs, their at-
tainment is inherently tied to recognizing and managing generational turnover
as well as managing or becoming reconciled to one’s functional losses, fini-
tude, and impending death.
The dynamics between the lifespan trajectories of growth, maintenance,
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
and regulation should also be emphasized. The mastery of life often involves
conflicts and competition among the three goals of human development. Con-
sider, for example, the interplay between autonomy and dependence in chil-
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
dren and older adults (MM Baltes 1996, MM Baltes & Silverberg 1994).
Whereas the primary focus of the first half of life is the maximization of inde-
pendence and autonomy, the goal-profile changes in old age. The productive
and creative use of dependence rather than independence becomes critical. By
invoking dependence and support, older people free up resources for use in
other domains involving personal efficacy and growth.
The age-related weakening of the biological foundation and the change in
the overall lifespan script associated with growth, maintenance, and regulation
of loss does not imply that there is no opportunity for growth at all in the sec-
ond half of life in some domains. Deficits in biological status can also be the
foundation for progress, that is, antecedents for positive changes in adaptive
capacity. The most radical view of this proposition is contained in the notion of
“culture as compensation.” Under the influence of cultural-anthropological as
well as evolutionary biological arguments, researchers have recognized that
suboptimal biological states or imperfections are catalysts for the evolution of
culture and for advanced states achieved in human ontogeny (PB Baltes 1997,
Klix 1993, Magnusson 1996, Uttal & Perlmutter 1989). In this line of thinking,
the human organism is by nature (Gehlen 1956) a “being of deficits” (Mängel-
wesen) and social culture has developed or emerged in part to deal specifically
with biological deficits.
This “deficits-breed-growth” mechanism may not only account for
cultural-biological evolution, it may also affect ontogenesis. Thus it is possible
that when people reach states of increased vulnerability in old age, social
forces and individuals invest more and more heavily in efforts that are explic-
itly oriented toward regulating and compensating for age-associated biological
deficits, thereby generating a broad range of novel behaviors, new bodies of
knowledge and values, new environmental features, and, as a result, a higher
level of adaptive capacity. Emerging research on psychological compensation
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 479
is a powerful illustration of the idea that deficits can be catalysts for positive
changes in adaptive capacity (MM Baltes 1996, PB Baltes & Baltes 1990,
Brandtstädter 1998, Dixon & Bäckman 1995, Marsiske et al 1995)
being constituted by gains and losses (PB Baltes 1987, PB Baltes et al 1980,
1998, Brandtstädter 1998, Labouvie-Vief 1982). Aside from functionalist ar-
guments, several empirical findings gave rise to this focus.
One example important to lifespan researchers was the differing lifespan
trajectories proposed and observed for various components of intelligence
(Cattell 1971, Horn & Hofer 1992, Schaie 1994, 1996). For intelligence,
throughout the life span gains and losses co-exist. In addition, the open sys-
tems view of the incomplete biological and cultural architecture of lifespan
development and the multiple ecologies of life made it obvious that postulat-
ing a single end state to development was inappropriate. Moreover, when con-
sidering the complex and changing nature of the criteria involved in everyday
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
adaptation (which, for instance, across ages differ widely in the characteristics
of task demands and outcome criteria; e.g. Berg 1996), the capacity to move
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
between levels of knowledge and skills rather than to operate at one specific
developmental level of functioning appeared crucial for effective individual
development. Furthermore, the dynamics between gains and losses were high-
lighted by the phenomenon of negative transfer associated with the evolution
of any form of specialization or expertise (Ericsson & Lehmann 1996). As a
result, a monolithic view of development as universal growth was rejected as
theoretically false and empirically inappropriate.
Recently, one additional concept has been advanced to characterize the
nature of lifespan changes in adaptive capacity. This concept is equifinality:
As a special case of multifunctionality, the same developmental outcome can
be reached by different means and combination of means (Kruglanski 1996,
Ribaupierre 1995). The role of equifinality is perhaps most evident in the dif-
ferent ways by which individuals reach an identical level of subjective well-
being (Brandtstädter & Greve 1994, Heckhausen & Brim 1997, Smith & Bal-
tes 1997, Staudinger et al 1995). The potential for developmental impact is
larger if the resources acquired during ontogenesis carry, in the sense of equifi-
nality and multifunctionality, much potential for generalization and adaptive
use in rather different contexts.
Plasticity and Age-Associated Changes
The strong concern of lifespan researchers with intraindividual plasticity
(malleability) highlights the search for the potentialities of development, in-
cluding its upper and lower boundary conditions. Implied in the idea of plastic-
ity is that any given developmental outcome is but one of numerous possible
outcomes, and that the search for the conditions and range of ontogenetic plas-
ticity, including its age-associated changes, is fundamental to the study of de-
velopment.
As lifespan psychologists initiated systematic work on the concept of plas-
ticity, further differentiation of it was introduced. One involved the differen-
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 481
early origins of LP (e.g. Quetelet 1842). Not surprisingly, therefore, the search
for methods adequate for the study of developmental processes is a continuing
part of the agenda of lifespan researchers (Cohen & Reese 1994, Hertzog 1996,
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
Lindenberger & Baltes 1995, Lindenberger & Pötter 1998, Magnusson 1996,
Nesselroade & Thompson 1995).
LIFE EVENTS AND EVENT-HISTORY ANALYSIS One methodological develop-
ment concerns methods to organize and study the temporal flow, correlates,
and consequences of life events. Life-course sociologists, in particular, have
made major contributions to the advancement of this methodology. Among the
relevant methods, models of event-history analysis and associated methods
such as hazard rate and survival analysis are especially important (Blossfeld &
Rohwer 1995, Willett & Singer 1991).
One of the critical events for lifespan researchers is mortality or death. As
life unfolds from birth into old age, the population itself changes in composi-
tion as a result of migration and especially mortality. In advanced old age, for
instance, the surviving age cohort becomes smaller and smaller until it reaches
zero. Understanding the intricacies of selective survival and its impact on the
nature of ontogenetic functions is a serious methodological challenge (for in-
stance, Lindenberger et al 1998).
TESTING THE LIMITS OF PLASTICITY The second example of methodological
innovations involves a strategy to examine the scope and limits of plasticity
(Kliegl et al 1989, Lindenberger & Baltes 1995). This method is similar to ef-
forts in child development to study the zone of proximal development, for in-
stance, through methods of microgenetic analysis or cognitive engineering
(Kuhn 1995, Siegler & Crowley 1991).
Again, because of the long time frame of lifespan ontogenesis, it is difficult
to identify the sources and scope of plasticity and its age-related changes. At
the same time, the inquiry into what is possible in principle in human develop-
ment across the life span is important. One example is the perennial question of
cognitive-aging researchers about whether aging losses in functions reflect ex-
482 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
Freund & Baltes 1998, Heckhausen & Schulz 1995, Marsiske et al 1995).
Definition of Selection, Optimization, and Compensation
An everyday example may help to clarify the meaning of SOC (PB Baltes &
Baltes 1990). When the concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein, as an 80-year-old,
was asked in a television interview how he managed to maintain such a high
level of expert piano playing, he hinted at the coordination of three strategies.
Figure 2 The lifespan model of selective optimization with compensation. The essentials of the
model are proposed to be universal, but specific phenotypic manifestations will vary by domain,
individual, sociocultural context, and theoretical perspective (adapted from PB Baltes 1987,
1997, PB Baltes &Baltes 1990, Marsiske et al 1995).
484 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
First, he played fewer pieces (selection); he practiced these pieces more often
(optimization); and to counteract his loss in mechanical speed he now used a
kind of impression management, such as playing more slowly before fast seg-
ments to make the latter appear faster (compensation).
The specific definitions of selection, optimization, and compensation are
conditioned by the theoretical framework chosen. Within an action-theoretical
framework, for instance, the following characterizations hold: Selection in-
volves goals or outcomes; optimization involves goal-related means to achieve
success (desired outcomes); and compensation involves a response to loss in
goal-relevant means in order to maintain success or desired levels of function-
ing (outcomes). Each of the processes can be active or passive, conscious or
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
tive transfer from the acquisition of one expert skill system to another is an-
other possible result of selection and optimization (Ericsson & Lehmann
1996).
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
minimizing undesirable ones. One recent illustration (Freund & Baltes 1998)
is research showing that individuals who report using SOC strategies also re-
port higher levels in subjective indicators of successful aging.
Depending on which level of analysis is chosen (societal, individual, micro-
behavioral, etc.), SOC requires the use of a different lens for different levels of
measurement and specification. For instance, at a biographical level of analy-
sis and everyday competence (MM Baltes & Lang 1997), the lens might focus
on the interplay among cognitive, physical, sensory, and motor functioning.
But when studying cognitive reserve capacity, for instance by means of dual-
task or parallel-task processing, the lens might focus on the SOC-related inter-
play between components of working memory and other attentional resources
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
the SOC model displays much consistency across levels of analysis and can be
usefully linked to other current theoretical streams in developmental psychol-
ogy, such as dynamic systems theory (Magnusson 1996, Thelen & Smith
1998). Moreover, the study of the orchestration of the processes of selection,
optimization, and compensation is a promising strategy toward understanding
how effective human development emerges, and how lifespan developmental
changes in resources, contexts, and challenges require an adaptive reorganiza-
tion and transformation of means and ends (MM Baltes & Carstensen 1996,
PB Baltes et al 1998, Heckhausen & Brim 1997, Schulz & Heckhausen 1996).
1995) and unfolds during ontogenesis (Rakic 1995). In contrast, the pragmat-
ics of cognition are associated with acquired bodies of knowledge available
from and mediated through culture. Thus, in accordance with our view of the
overall architecture of human development, the two-component model locates
intellectual development within biological and cultural systems of inheritance
or “co-evolution” (Durham 1991).
Empirical evidence in support of the two–component model comes from a
great variety of research traditions (PB Baltes et al 1998). Probably the most
longstanding supportive evidence is the difference between maintained and
vulnerable intellectual abilities (Jones & Conrad 1933, PB Baltes & Linden-
berger 1997, Salthouse 1991, Schaie 1994, 1996). Abilities that critically in-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
matic abilities, such as verbal knowledge (e.g. semantic memory) and certain
facets of numerical ability, have weak, and sometimes positive, age relations
up to the sixth or seventh decade of life, and start to decline only in very old
age. Figure 4 illustrates for the case of old age the fact that, as suggested by the
overall architecture of the life course and the two-component model, the cog-
nitive mechanics and the cognitive pragmatics are regulated differentially by
cultural and biological factors, and that in late life the role of biological factors
becomes stronger.
Pragmatics (crystallized)
Basic Information Processing
content-poor Me Intelligence as
Performance
ca. 25 ca. 70
Life Course
Figure 3 Lifespan research on two components of cognition, the fluid mechanics and the crys-
tallized pragmatics. The left panel defines the categories; the right panel illustrates postulated
lifespan trajectories (after PB Baltes et al 1998; cf. Cattell 1971, Hebb 1949, Horn & Hofer 1992).
488 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
35
Cognitive Mechanics
30 Cognitive Pragmatics
20
15
10
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
5
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
0
Hearing
.
Vision
Bal. / Gait
Education
Prestige
Social Class
Income
Sensory-Sensorimotor Socio-Biographical
Correlates Correlates
Figure 4 Explanatory sources of intellectual functioning in very old age provide support for the
two-component model of lifespan intellectual development and lifespan changes in the relative
importance of cultural vs. biological determinants of individual differences. The figure displays
differential correlational links of perceptual speed, a marker of the cognitive mechanics, and ver-
bal knowledge, a marker of the cognitive pragmatics, to indicators of socio-biographical life his-
tory and biological (e.g. sensory-motor) status. Perceptual speed is more highly correlated with
biological indicators than verbal knowledge, and verbal knowledge is more highly correlated
with socio-biographical indicators than perceptual speed. At the same time, both are more
strongly related to biological than to socio-biographical indicators, reflecting aging-induced
changes in the functional integrity of the brain. Data are taken from the Berlin Aging Study (N =
516, age range = 70–103 years). Lindenberger & Baltes 1997.
working memory at the center of intelligent behavior and raises doubts about
its status as a “processing primitive” or “basic determinant” of intellectual de-
velopment. Finally, the curvilinear lifespan age gradients observed with typi-
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
cal measures of interference proneness (e.g. the Stroop color-word test) may
reflect age changes in changes in processing rate (Salthouse & Meinz 1995),
selective attention (Plude et al 1994), or discrimination learning (Hartman
1995), rather than age changes in inhibitory functioning.
These difficulties in identifying determinants of developmental change in
the mechanics of cognition have led to productive discussions at the interface
of multivariate-psychometric, cognitive-experimental, and radically reduc-
tionist approaches (Cerella 1990, Hertzog 1996, Kliegl et al 1994, Linden-
berger & Baltes 1994, Perfect 1994, Rabbitt 1993). Future research on this
topic is likely to profit also from closer contact with the neurosciences (Gazza-
niga 1995) and the careful examination of the systemic properties of develop-
ing brains (Fischer & Rose 1994, Nelson & Bloom 1997, Thatcher 1994) as
well as a heightened awareness for interindividual differences in intraindivid-
ual change (Fischer et al 1992, Ribaupierre 1995, Schneider & Sodian 1997;
cf. Nesselroade 1991).
ance potential. In our view, to separate the possible from the impossible over
age, the context of measurement needs to be moved toward the upper limits of
performance potential.
Within LP, and as mentioned earlier, testing-the-limits has been introduced
as a research strategy to uncover adult age differences in the upper (asymp-
totic) limits of mechanical functioning. The main focus of this paradigm is to
arrange for experimental conditions that produce maximum (i.e. asymptotic)
levels of performance. In such research, robust age differences were identified.
For instance, after 38 sessions of training in a memory technique, not a single
older adult was performing above the mean of the young adults (PB Baltes &
Kliegl 1992, Kliegl et al 1989). It appears worthwhile to intensify the use of the
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
mains. Our prediction is that lifespan peaks are shifted toward younger ages
whenever cognitive tasks of the mechanics are freed from pragmatic, that is,
knowledge- and experience-based influence. Also, cohort differences in the
cognitive mechanics will become smaller if efforts are made to test individuals
at their asymptotic limits of performance potential.
The Pragmatics of Cognition
In contrast to the mechanics, the pragmatics of cognition direct the attention of
lifespan developmentalists toward the role of culture and the increasing impor-
tance of knowledge-based forms of intelligence as human ontogeny evolves
(Ackerman 1996, PB Baltes 1997, Ericsson & Lehmann 1996, Marsiske &
Willis 1998). Positive developmental changes in the pragmatic component re-
flect the acquisition and lifelong practice of culturally transmitted bodies of
declarative and procedural knowledge that are made available to individuals in
the course of socialization and lifetime experiences. Some of the lifetime expe-
riences leading to the acquisition of pragmatic knowledge are normative but
specific to certain cultures (e.g. formal schooling), others are more universal
(e.g. mentoring), and still others are idiosyncratic or person-specific (e.g. spe-
cialized ecological and professional knowledge).
We assume that the pragmatics of cognition build on, extend, and reorgan-
ize prestructured core domains (Wellman & Gelman 1992) associated with the
cognitive mechanics and their foundation in the biological nature of the human
processing system (Saffran et al 1996, Smotherman & Robinson 1996, Spelke
et al 1995). For instance, pragmatic knowledge may evolve from or mimic pre-
disposed knowledge in evolutionarily privileged domains, but come with the
advantage of being tuned to the idiosyncratic demands of specific cultures, bi-
ographies, and contexts (Siegler & Crowley 1994). These processes of exten-
sion and transformation eventually give rise to forms of knowledge and behav-
492 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
ior that are, in part by virtue of necessity, compatible with the biological archi-
tecture of the mind, but that are not the direct consequence of evolutionary se-
lection pressures.
central importance for successful intellectual aging, and supports the general
lifespan theory of selective optimization with compensation (MM Baltes &
Carstensen 1996, PB Baltes 1997).
INTELLECTUAL GROWTH DURING ADULTHOOD: STAGE CONCEPTIONS VERSUS
FUNCTIONALIST APPROACHES An important debate within lifespan intellec-
tual development refers to the question of (a) whether adult intellectual devel-
opment follows a structuralist, stage-like logic, and can be described as a
movement toward higher forms of reasoning and thought (Alexander & Lan-
ger 1990, Labouvie-Vief 1992, 1995); or (b) whether functionalist approaches
(Dixon & Baltes 1986) emphasizing the local nature of developmental adapta-
tions, as they prevail in the study of knowledge acquisition, selective speciali-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
people in late adulthood (PB Baltes et al 1995). Only in very old age do the me-
chanics seem to delimit wisdom-related performance, probably because they
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
fall below a critical threshold of functional integrity (PB Baltes et al 1995; cf.
Pratt et al 1996, Smith & Baltes 1997).
Originally, research on wisdom was motivated primarily by the search for
positive aspects of human aging. Meanwhile, this intellectual agenda has been
extended to include aspects of clinical psychology (Smith et al 1994), cultural
psychology (Staudinger 1996), and the cognitive psychology of heuristics. As
to the latter, Baltes (1998) argues that wisdom is a cognitive and motivational
metastrategy that orchestrates diverse bodies of knowledge toward human ex-
cellence. As such a high-level heuristic about the conduct of life, wisdom (a)
protects against the fragmentation of knowledge (Stich 1990) and (b) enhances
the control of one’s vices and the optimization of one’s virtues. In this sense,
wisdom is a lifetime general-purpose heuristic aimed at the well-being of one-
self and that of others.
Mechanic/Pragmatic Interdependence
The mechanics and pragmatics of lifespan intellectual development are inter-
twined to varying degrees and at various levels of analysis (cf. Bosman &
Charness 1996). Phylogenetically, they are connected in the sense that mem-
bers of the human species are biologically predisposed to acquire cultural
knowledge in the sense of co-evolution (cf. Durham 1991, Klix 1993). Onto-
genetically, the interdependence is bidirectional as well.
On the one hand, the potential to acquire and use pragmatic knowledge is
constrained by age-based changes in the potential and status of the mechanical
component (Elbert et al 1995). The mechanics of cognition condition not only
the acquisition of pragmatic knowledge, but also its expression (Bosman &
Charness 1996, Molander & Bäckman 1996). On the other hand, the pragmat-
ics of cognition provide the medium (content) and, at least during the first tier
of life, the structure for the phenotypic unfolding of the cognitive mechanics.
Furthermore, the pragmatics of cognition serve to optimize levels of perform-
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 495
mate, to varying degrees, the centroid of the intellectual ability factor space
(i.e. Spearman’s g; see also Horn 1989). With this qualification in mind, we re-
strict the following discussion, with the exception of infant development, to
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
of four and five, and a value of .90 for the ages of eight and nine. With respect
to later ages, Hertzog and Schaie (1986) found that seven-year stability coeffi-
cients for a general ability composite ranged from .89 to .96 in samples with
mean ages between 25 and 67 years at first test. These are extraordinarily high
levels of interindividual long-term stability.
Lifespan Changes in Heritability
A detailed coverage of behavior genetics and its role in the study of develop-
mental pathologies (Rutter 1997) is beyond the scope of this article. Instead,
the following synopsis is restricted to broad estimates of heritability in normal
samples. To avoid misunderstandings, we emphasize that heritability coeffi-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
(PB Baltes & Lindenberger 1997, Lindenberger & Baltes 1997). In addition,
the covariance dedifferentiation observed in very old age appears to transcend
the cognitive domain, affecting sensory functioning (e.g. vision and hearing)
and sensorimotor functioning (e.g. balance/gait) as well (PB Baltes & Linden-
berger 1997). One likely possibility for the high degree of ability homogeneity
(dedifferentiation) in old age is the common causes of brain aging that affect
all cognitive functions similarly.
CONCLUSIONS
During the recent decade, we have witnessed rigorous and varied efforts to un-
derstand human development from a lifespan point of view. One major goal of
this chapter was to examine the degree of convergence between several levels
of theoretical and empirical analysis.
We conclude that the work on lifespan development conducted at different
levels of analysis evinces much convergence, and this represents theoretical
progress in LP. In developing and refining its multi-level framework, LP has
benefited much from transdisciplinary dialogue, especially with modern de-
velopmental biologists but also with cultural psychologists. Biologists, for
instance, have led the way in moving research away from unilinear, unifunc-
tional, and deterministic models of ontogenesis to a theoretical framework that
highlights the contextual, adaptive, probabilistic, and self-organizational dy-
namic aspects of ontogenesis (Lerner 1998a, Magnusson 1996, Thelen &
Smith 1998). In a similar vein, cultural psychologists and development-
oriented social scientists (e.g. Cole 1996, Durham 1991, Elder 1998, Mayer
1990, Valsiner & Lawrence 1997) have succeeded equally in demonstrating
not only that human ontogenesis is strongly conditioned by culture, but that the
architecture of human development is essentially incomplete, not only for rea-
500 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
cialties need to be identified and nurtured. In the long run, it is these intercon-
nections that will be the final testing ground of what lifespan theory and re-
search has to offer to psychology, as a science and as a profession.
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The writing of this chapter was facilitated by a fellowship (1997-1998) of the
first author at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stan-
ford, California.
Literature Cited
Abraham JD, Hansson RO. 1995. Successful ency in Old Age. New York: Cambridge
aging at work: An applied study of selec- Univ. Press
tion, optimization, and compensation Baltes MM, Carstensen LL. 1996. The process
through impression management. J. Ger- of successful ageing. Aging Soc. 16:
ontol. Psychol. Sci. 50B:P94–103 397–422
Ackerman PL. 1996. A theory of adult intel- Baltes MM, Carstensen LL. 1998. Social psy-
lectual development: process, personality, chological theories and their applications
interests, and knowledge. Intelligence 22: to aging: From individual to collective so-
227–57 cial psychology. In Handbook of Theories
Alexander C, Langer EJ, eds. 1990. Beyond of Aging, ed. VL Bengston, KW Schaie.
Formal Operations: Alternative Endpoints New York: Springer. In press
to Human Development. New York: Ox- Baltes MM, Kühl K-P, Gutzmann H, Sowarka
ford Univ. Press D. 1995. Potential of cognitive plasticity
Babcock RL, Laguna KD, Roesch SC. 1997. A as a diagnostic instrument: a cross-
comparison of the factor structure of proc- validation and extension. Psychol. Aging
essing speed for younger and older adults: 10:167–72
Testing the assumption of measurement Baltes MM, Lang FR. 1997. Differences in
equivalence across age groups. Psychol. everyday functioning between success-
Aging 12:268–76 fully and unsuccessfully aging adults. Psy-
Baddeley A. 1996. Exploring the central ex- chol. Aging 12:433–43
ecutive. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 49A:5–28 Baltes MM, Silverberg SB. 1994. The dynam-
Baltes MM. 1996. The Many Faces of Depend- ics between dependency and autonomy: il-
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 501
lustrations across the life span. In Life- span developmental psychology. Annu.
Span Development and Behavior, ed. DL Rev. Psychol. 31:65–110
Featherman, RM Lerner, M Perlmutter, Baltes PB, Reese HW, Nesselroade JR. 1988.
12:41–90. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum (1977). Life-Span Developmental Psychol-
Baltes PB. 1983. Life-span developmental ogy: Introduction to Research Methods.
psychology: observations on history and Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
theory revisited. In Developmental Psy- Baltes PB, Smith J. 1997. A systemic-
chology: Historical and Philosophical wholistic view of psychological function-
Perspectives, ed. RM Lerner, pp. 79–111. ing in very old age: introduction to a col-
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum lection of articles from the Berlin Aging
Baltes PB. 1987. Theoretical propositions of Study. Psychol. Aging 12:395–409
life-span developmental psychology: on Baltes PB, Staudinger UM. 1993. The search
the dynamics between growth and decline. for a psychology of wisdom. Curr. Dir.
Dev. Psychol. 23:611–26 Psychol. Sci. 2:75–80
Baltes PB. 1993. The aging mind: potential Baltes PB, Staudinger UM, eds. 1996. Interac-
and limits. Gerontologist 33:580–94 tive Minds: Life-Span Perspectives on the
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
Baltes PB. 1997. On the incomplete architec- Social Foundation of Cognition. New
ture of human ontogeny: selection, optimi- York: Cambridge Univ. Press
zation, and compensation as foundation of Baltes PB, Staudinger UM, Maercker A,
developmental theory. Am. Psychol. 52: Smith J. 1995. People nominated as wise: a
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
human development. See Lerner 1998b, Cohen SH, Reese HW, eds. 1994. Life-span
pp. 807–66 Developmental Psychology: Methodologi-
Brandtstädter J, Greve W. 1994. The aging cal Contributions. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
self: stabilizing and protective processes. Cole M. 1996. Interacting minds in a life–span
Dev. Rev. 14:52–80 perspective: a cultural/historical approach
Brandtstädter J, Wentura D. 1995. Adjustment to culture and cognitive development. See
to shifting possibility frontiers in later life: Baltes & Staudinger 1996, pp. 59–87
complementary adaptive modes. See Dawson G, Fischer KW, eds. 1994. Human
Dixon & Bäckman 1995, pp. 83–106 Behavior and the Developing Brain. New
Brim OG Jr. 1992. Ambition: How We Manage York: Guilford
Success and Failure Throughout Our Deary IJ, Egan V, Gibson GJ, Austin EJ,
Lives. New York: Basic Books Brand C, Kellaghan T. 1996. Intelligence
Brim OG Jr, Kagan J. 1980. Constancy and and the differentiation hypothesis. Intelli-
change: a view of the issues. In Constancy gence 23:105–32
and Change in Human Development, ed. Dempster FN. 1992. The rise and fall of the in-
OG. Brim Jr, J Kagan, pp. 1–25. Cam- hibitory mechanism: toward a unified the-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
bridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press ory of cognitive development and aging.
Bühler C. 1933. Der menschliche Lebenslauf Dev. Rev. 12:45–75
als psychologisches Problem. Leipzig: DiLalla LF, Thompson LA, Plomin R, Phillips
Hirzel. K, Fagan JF, et al. 1990. Infant predictors
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
Cairns RB. 1998. The making of developmen- of preschool and adult IQ: a study of infant
tal psychology. See Lerner 1998b, pp. twins and their parents. Dev. Psychol. 26:
25–105 759–69
Cardon LR, Fulker DW. 1991. Sources of con- Dixon RA, Bäckman L, eds. 1995. Compen-
tinuity in infant predictors of later IQ. In- sating for Psychological Deficits and De-
telligence 15:279–93 clines: Managing Losses and Promoting
Carmelli D, Swan GE, Cardon LR. 1995. Ge- Gains. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
netic mediation in the relationship of edu- Dixon RA, Baltes PB. 1986. Toward life-span
cation to cognitive function in older peo- research on the functions and pragmatics
ple. Psychol. Aging 10:48–53 of intelligence. In Practical Intelligence:
Carroll JB. 1993. Human Cognitive Abilities. Nature and Origins of Competence in the
Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press Everyday World, ed. RJ Sternberg, RK
Carstensen LL. 1995. Evidence for a life–span Wagner, pp. 203–34. New York: Cam-
theory of socioemotional selectivity. Curr. bridge Univ. Press
Dir. Psychol. Sci. 4:151–56 Dixon RA, Gould ON. 1996. Adults telling
Case R. 1985. Intellectual Development: and retelling stories collaboratively. See
From Birth to Adulthood. New York: Aca- Baltes & Staudinger 1996, pp. 221–41
demic Dixon RA, Lerner RM. 1988. A history of
Cattell RB. 1971. Abilities: Their Structure, systems in developmental psychology. In
Growth, and Action. Boston, MA: Hough- Developmental Psychology: An Advanced
ton Mifflin Textbook, ed. MH Bornstein, ME Lamb,
Cerella J. 1990. Aging and information- pp. 3–50. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 2nd
processing rate. In Handbook of the Psy- ed
chology of Aging, ed. JE Birren, KW Duncan J, Emslie H, Williams P, Johnson R,
Schaie, pp. 201–21. San Diego, CA: Aca- Freer C. 1996. Intelligence and the frontal
demic lobe: the organization of goal-directed be-
Chapman M. 1988. Constructive Evolution: havior. Cogn. Psychol. 30:257–303
Origins and Development of Piaget’s Durham WH. 1991. Coevolution: Genes, Cul-
Thought. New York: Cambridge Univ. ture and Human Diversity. Stanford, CA:
Press Stanford Univ. Press
Charness N, Bosman EA. 1990. Expertise and Edelman GM, Tononi G. 1996. Selection and
aging: life in the lab. In Aging and Cogni- development: the brain as a complex sys-
tion: Knowledge Organization and Utili- tem. In The Life-span Development of In-
zation, ed. TH Hess, pp. 343–85. Amster- dividuals: Behavioral, Neurobiological,
dam: Elsevier and Psychosocial Perspectives, ed. D
Clayton VP, Birren JE. 1980. The develop- Magnusson, pp. 179–204. Cambridge,
ment of wisdom across the life span: a re- UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
examination of an ancient topic. In Life- Elbert T, Pantev C, Wienbruch C, Rockstroh
Span Development and Behavior, ed. PB B, Taub E. 1995. Increased cortical repre-
Baltes JOG. Brim, 3:103–35. New York: sentation of the fingers of the left hand in
Academic string players. Science 270:305–7
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 503
Elder GH Jr. 1998. The life course and human Gazzaniga MS, ed. 1995. The Cognitive Neu-
development. See Lerner 1998b, pp. 939– rosciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT
92 Gehlen A. 1956. Urmensch und Spätkultur.
Ericsson KA, Lehmann AC. 1996. Expert and Bonn: Athenäum
exceptional performance: evidence of Gobet F, Simon HA. 1996. The roles of recog-
maximal adaption to task constraints. nition processes and look-ahead search in
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 47:273–305 time-constrained expert problem solving:
Erikson EH. 1959. Identity and the Life Cycle, Evidence from grand-master-level chess.
Psychological Issues Monograph 1. New Psychol. Sci. 7:52–55
York: Int. Univ. Press Gold DP, Andres D, Etezadi J, Arbuckle T,
Featherman DL. 1983. The life-span perspec- Schwartzman A, Chaikelson J. 1995.
tive in social science research. In Life- Structural equation model of intellectual
Span Development and Behavior, ed. PB change and continuity and predictors of in-
Baltes, OG Brim Jr, 5:1–59. New York: telligence in older men. Psychol. Aging
Academic 10:294–303
Featherman DL, Smith J, Peterson JG. 1990. Gollwitzer PM, Bargh JA, eds. 1996. The
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
during aging of individual life histories. In and group change: Ontogeny and phy-
The Life-Span Development of Individu- logeny in biology. Hum. Dev. 27:233–39
als: Behavioral, Neurobiological and Psy- Graf P, Uttl B. 1995. Component processes of
chosocial Perspective, ed. D Magnusson, memory: changes across the adult life
pp. 488–511. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge span. Swiss J. Psychol. 54:113–30
Univ. Press Grafman J, Partiot A, Hollnagel C. 1995. Fa-
Fischer KW, Knight CC, Van-Parys M. 1992. bles of the prefrontal cortex. Behav. Brain
Analyzing diversity in developmental Sci. 18:349–58
pathways: methods and concepts. In The Grober E, Kawas C. 1997. Learning and reten-
New Structuralism in Cognitive Develop- tion in preclinical and early Alzheimer’s
ment: Theory and Research on Individual disease. Psychol. Aging 12:183–88
Pathways, ed. R Case, W Edelstein, pp. Hartman M. 1995. Aging and interference:
33–56. Basel, Switzerland: Karger evidence from indirect memory tests. Psy-
Fischer KW, Rose SP. 1994. Dynamic devel- chol. Aging 10:659–69
opment of coordination of components in Hebb DO. 1949. The Organization of Behav-
brain and behavior: A framework for the- ior. New York: Wiley
ory and research. See Dawson & Fischer Heckhausen J, Brim OG. 1997. Perceived
1994, pp. 3–66. New York: Guilford problems of self and other: self-protection
Fisk JE, Warr P. 1996. Age and working mem- by social downgrading throughout adult-
ory: the role of perceptual speed, the cen- hood. Psychol. Aging 12:610–19
tral executive, and the phonological loop. Heckhausen J, Schulz R. 1995. A life-span
Psychol. Aging 11:316–23 theory of control. Psychol. Rev. 102:
Flavell JH. 1992. Cognitive development: 284–304
past, present, and future. Dev. Psychol. 28: Hertzog C. 1996. Research design in studies of
998–1005 aging and cognition. See Birren & Schaie
Flynn JR. 1987. Massive IQ gains in 14 na- 1996, pp. 24–37
tions: what IQ tests really measure. Psy- Hertzog C, Schaie KW. 1986. Stability and
chol. Bull. 101:171–91 change in adult intelligence: 1. Analysis of
Fox PW, Hershberger SL, Bouchard TJ. 1996. longitudinal covariance structures. Psy-
Genetic and environmental contributions chol. Aging 1:159–71
to the acquisition of a motor skill. Nature Hess TM, Pullen SM. 1996. Memory in con-
384:356–58 text. See Blanchard-Fields & Hess 1996,
Freund AM, Baltes PB. 1998. Selection, opti- pp. 387–427
mization, and compensation as strategies Hetherington EM, Lerner RM, Perlmutter M,
of life-management: correlations with sub- eds. 1988. Child Development in Life-Span
jective indicators of successful aging. Psy- Perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
chol. Aging. In press Horn JL. 1989. Models of intelligence. In In-
Fry AF, Hale S. 1996. Processing speed, work- telligence: Measurement, Theory, and
ing memory, and fluid intelligence: evi- Public Policy, ed. RL Linn, pp. 29–73. Ur-
dence for a developmental cascade. Psy- bana, IL: Univ. Ill. Press
chol. Sci. 7:237–41 Horn JL, Hofer SM. 1992. Major abilities and
504 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
development in the adult period. See ment: Present Status and Future Perspec-
Sternberg & Berg 1992, pp. 44–49 tives, ed. D Magnusson, pp. 153–93. Cam-
Hoyer WJ, Rybash JM. 1994. Characterizing bridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
adult development. J. Adult Dev. 1:7–12 Kuhn D. 1995. Microgenetic study of change:
Humphreys LG, Davey TC. 1988. Continuity What has it told us? Psychol. Sci. 6:133–39
in intellectual growth from 12 months to 9 Labouvie-Vief G. 1982. Dynamic develop-
years. Intelligence 12:183–97 ment and mature autonomy: a theoretical
Hunt E. 1993. What do we need to know about prologue. Hum. Dev. 25:161–91
aging? See Cerella et al 1993, pp. 587–98 Labouvie-Vief G. 1992. Neo-Piagetian per-
Jazwinski SM. 1996. Longevity, genes, and spective on adult cognitive development.
aging. Science 273:54–59 See Sternberg & Berg 1992, pp. 197–228
Jones HE, Conrad H. 1933. The growth and Labouvie-Vief G. 1995. Psyche and Eros:
decline of intelligence: a study of a homo- Mind and Gender in the Life Course. New
geneous group between the ages of ten York: Cambridge Univ. Press
and sixty. Genet. Psychol. Monogr. 13: Lachman ME, James JB, eds. 1997. Multiple
223–98 Paths of Midlife Development. Chicago:
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
Just MA, Carpenter PA, Keller TA. 1996. The Univ.Chicago Press
capacity theory of comprehension: new Lerner RM. 1991. Changing organism-context
frontiers of evidence and arguments. Psy- relations as the basic process of develop-
chol. Rev. 103:773–80 ment: a developmental contextual perspec-
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
Kail R, Salthouse TA. 1994. Processing speed tive. Dev. Psychol. 27:27–32
as a mental capacity. Acta Psychol. 86: Lerner RM. 1995. The limits of biological in-
199–225 fluence: behavioral genetics as the emper-
Karmiloff-Smith A. 1995. The extraordinary or’s new clothes. Psychol. Inq. 6:145–56
cognitive journey from foetus through in- Lerner RM. 1998a. Theories of human devel-
fancy. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry Allied opment: contemporary perspectives. See
Discipl. 36:1293–313 Lerner 1998b, pp. 1–24
Kirasic KC, Allen GL, Dobson SH, Binder Lerner RM, ed. 1998b. Handbook of Child
KS. 1996. Aging, cognitive resources, and Psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical Models of
declarative learning. Psychol. Aging 11: Human Development. New York: Wiley.
658–70 5th ed
Kliegl R, Mayr U, Krampe RT. 1994. Time- Lindenberger U, Baltes PB. 1994. Sensory
accuracy functions for determining pro- functioning and intelligence in old age: a
cess and person differences: an application powerful connection. Psychol. Aging 9:
to cognitive aging. Cogn. Psychol. 26: 339–55
134–64 Lindenberger U, Baltes PB. 1995. Testing-the-
Kliegl R, Smith J, Baltes PB. 1989. Testing- limits and experimental simulation: two
the-limits and the study of age differences methods to explicate the role of learning in
in cognitive plasticity of a mnemonic skill. development. Hum. Dev. 38:349–60
Dev. Psychol. 25:247–56 Lindenberger U, Baltes PB. 1997. Intellectual
Klix F. 1993. Erwachendes Denken: Geistige functioning in old and very old age: cross-
Leistungen aus evolutionspsychologischer sectional results from the Berlin Aging
Sicht. Heidelberg: Spektrum Akade- Study. Psychol. Aging 12:410–32
mischer Verlag Lindenberger U, Gilberg R, Little TD, Nuth-
Knopf M, Preussler W, Stefanek J. 1995. “18, mann R, Pötter U, Baltes PB. 1998. Sam-
20, 2...” - Kann Expertise im Skatspiel De- ple selectivity and generalizability of the
fizite des Arbeitsgedächtnisses älterer results of the Berlin Aging Study. In The
Menschen kompensieren? Swiss J. Psy- Berlin Aging Study: From 70 to 100, ed.
chol. 54:225–36 PB Baltes, KU Mayer. New York: Cam-
Krampe RT, Ericsson KA. 1996. Maintaining bridge Univ. In press
excellence: deliberate practice and elite Lindenberger U, Mayr U, Kliegl R. 1993.
performance in young and old pianists. J. Speed and intelligence in old age. Psychol.
Exp. Psychol. Genet. 125:331–59 Aging 8:207–20
Kruglanski AW. 1996. Goals as knowledge Lindenberger U, Pötter U. 1998. The complex
structures. See Gollwitzer & Bargh 1996, nature of unique and shared effects in hier-
pp. 599–618 archical linear regression: consequences
Kruse A, Lindenberger U, Baltes PB. 1993. for cross-sectional developmental re-
Longitudinal research on human aging: the search. Psychol. Methods. 3:218–30
power of combining real-time, microge- Magnusson D, ed. 1996. The Life-Span Devel-
netic, and simulation approaches. In Lon- opment of Individuals: Behavioural, Neu-
gitudinal Research on Individual Develop- robiological and Psychosocial Perspec-
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 505
tives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. ken DT. 1993. Behavioral genetics of cog-
Press nitive ability: a life-span perspective. In
Magnusson D, Bergman LR, Rudinger G, Nature, Nurture, and Psychology, ed. R
Törestad B, eds. 1991. Problems and Plomin, GE McClearn, pp. 59–76. Wash-
Methods in Longitudinal Research: Stabil- ington, DC: Am. Psychol. Assoc.
ity and Change. Cambridge, UK: Cam- Mergler NL, Goldstein MD. 1983. Why are
bridge Univ. Press there old people? Senescence as biological
Marsiske M, Lang FR, Baltes MM, Baltes PB. and cultural preparedness for the transmis-
1995. Selective optimization with com- sion of information. Hum. Dev. 26:72–90
pensation: life-span perspectives on suc- Miller LT, Vernon PA. 1996. Intelligence, re-
cessful human development. In Compen- action time, and working memory in 4- to
sation for Psychological Defects and De- 6-year-old children. Intelligence 22:155–90
clines: Managing Losses and Promoting Molander B, Bäckman L. 1996. Cognitive ag-
Gains, ed. RA Dixon, L Bäckman, pp. ing in a precision sport context. Eur. Psy-
35–79. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum chol. 1:166–79
Marsiske M, Willis SL. 1995. Dimensionality Molenaar PCM, Boomsma DI, Dolan CV.
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
solving: life-span perspectives. In Creativ- neurons in the aging brain. Science 278:
ity and Successful Aging: Theoretical and 412–18
Empirical Approaches, ed. CE Adams- Müller-Brettel M, Dixon RA. 1990. Johann
Price, pp. 73–113. New York: Springer Nicolas Tetens: a forgotten father of devel-
Martin GM, Austad SN, Johnson TE. 1996. opmental psychology? Int. J. Behav. Dev.
Genetic analysis of ageing: role of oxida- 13:215–30
tive damage and environmental stresses. Nelson AE, Dannefer D. 1992. Aged heteroge-
Nat. Genet. 13:25–34 neity: fact or fiction? The fate of diversity
Mayer KU. 1990. Lebensverläufe und sozialer in gerontological research. Gerontologist
Wandel: Anmerkungen zu einem For- 32:17–23
schungsprogramm. Kölner Z. Soziol. Sozi- Nelson CA, Bloom FE. 1997. Child develop-
alpsychol. 42(Sonderheft 31):7–21 ment and neuroscience. Child Dev. 68:
Mayr U, Kliegl R, Krampe RT. 1996. Sequen- 970–87
tial and coordinative processing dynamics Nesselroade JR. 1991. Interindividual differ-
in figural transformations across the life ences in intraindividual change. In Best
span. Cognition 59:61–90 Methods for the Analysis of Change, ed.
McAdams DP, de St. Aubin E, eds. 1998. Gen- LM Collins, JL Horn, pp. 92–105. Wash-
erativity and Adult Development. Wash- ington, DC: Am. Psychol. Assoc.
ington, DC: Am. Psychol. Assoc. Nesselroade JR, Thompson WW. 1995. Selec-
McCall RB. 1994. What process mediates pre- tion and related threats to group compari-
dictions of childhood IQ from infant ha- sons: an example comparing factorial
bituation and recognition memory? Specu- structures of higher and lower ability
lations on the roles of inhibition and rate of groups of adult twins. Psychol. Bull. 117:
information processing. Intelligence 18: 271–84
107–25 Neugarten DA, ed. 1996. The Meanings of
McCall RB, Carriger MS. 1993. A meta- Age: Selected Papers of Bernice L.
analysis of infant habituation and recogni- Neugarten. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
tion memory performance as predictors of Park DC, Lautenschlager G, Smith AD, Earles
later IQ. Child. Dev. 64:57–79 JL. 1996. Mediators of long-term memory
McClearn GE, Johansson B, Berg S, Pedersen performance across the life span. Psychol.
NL, Ahern F, et al. 1997. Substantial ge- Aging 11:621–37
netic influence on cognitive abilities in Parke RD, Ornstein PA, Rieser JJ, Zahn-
twins 80 or more years old. Science 276: Waxler C. 1991. Editors’ introduction to
1560–63 the APA Centennial Series. Dev. Psychol.
McClelland JL. 1996. Integration of informa- 28:3–4
tion: reflections on the theme of attention Pascual-Leone J. 1995. Learning and develop-
and performance XVI. In Attention and ment as dialectical factors in cognitive
Performance XVI, ed. I Toshui, JL growth. Hum. Dev. 38:338–48
McClelland, pp. 633–56. Cambridge, MA: Perfect TJ. 1994. What can Brinley Plots tell
MIT Press us about cognitive aging? J. Gerontol. Psy-
McGue M, Bouchard TJ Jr, Iacono WG, Lyk- chol. Sci. 49:P60–64
506 BALTES, STAUDINGER & LINDENBERGER
Pancer SM. 1996. Moral and social reason- Schaie KW. 1996. Adult Intellectual Develop-
ing and perspective taking in later life: a ment: The Seattle Longitudinal Study.
longitudinal study. Psychol. Aging 11: New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
66–73 Schaie KW, Willis SL, Hertzog C, Schulen-
Access provided by CAPES on 11/18/16. For personal use only.
Quetelet A. 1842. A Treatise on Man and the berg JE. 1987. Effects of cognitive training
Development of his Faculties. Edinburgh: on primary mental ability structure. Psy-
Chambers chol. Aging 2:233–42
Rabbitt PMA. 1993. Does it all go together Schneider W, Sodian B. 1997. Memory strat-
when it goes? The Nineteenth Bartlett Me- egy development: lessons from longitudi-
morial Lecture. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 46A: nal research. Dev.Rev. 17:442–61
385–434 Schroots JJF. 1996. Theoretical developments
Rakic P. 1995. Corticogenesis. See Gazzaniga in the psychology of aging. Gerontologist
1995, pp. 127–45 36:742–48
Reinert G. 1970. Comparative factor analytic Schulz R, Heckhausen J. 1996. A life span
studies of intelligence throughout the hu- model of successful aging. Am. Psychol.
man life span. See Goulet & Baltes 1970, 51:702–14
pp. 476–84 Siegler RS. 1997. Beyond competence-toward
Reinert G. 1979. Prolegomena to a history of development. Cogn. Dev. 12: 232–332
life-span developmental psychology. See Siegler RS, Crowley K. 1991. The microge-
Baltes & Brim 1979, pp. 205–54 netic method: a direct means for studying
Ribaupierre Ad. 1995. Working memory and cognitive development. Am. Psychol. 46:
individual differences: a review. Swiss J. 606–20
Psychol. 54:152–68 Siegler RS, Crowley K. 1994. Constraints on
Ridderinkhof KR, van der Molen MW. 1995. learning in nonprivileged domains. Cogn.
A psychophysiological analysis of devel- Psychol. 27:194–226
opmental differences in the ability to resist Singer JL. 1995. Development and plasticity
interference. Child. Dev. 66:1040–56 of cortical processing architectures. Sci-
Riley MW. 1987. On the significance of age in ence 270:758–64
sociology. Am. Sociol. Rev. 52:1–14 Smith J, Baltes PB. 1997. Profiles of psycho-
Rose SA, Feldman JF. 1997. Memory and logical functioning in the old and oldest
speed: their role in the relation of informa- old. Psychol. Aging 12:458–72
tion processing to later IQ. Child. Dev. Smith J, Staudinger UM, Baltes PB. 1994. Oc-
68:630–41 cupational settings facilitating wisdom-
Rutter M, Rutter M. 1993. Developing Minds: related knowledge: The sample case of
Challenge and Continuity Across the Life clinical psychologists. J. Consult. Clin.
Span. New York: Basic Books Psychol. 62:989–99
Rutter ML. 1997. Nature-nurture integration: Smith MB. 1996. Psychology and truth: hu-
The example of anti-social behavior. Am. man science and the post-modern chal-
Psychol. 52:390–98 lenge. Interam. J. Psychol. 30:145–58
Saffran J, Aslin RN, Newport EL. 1996. Sta- Smotherman WP, Robinson SR. 1996. The de-
tistical learning by 8-month-old infants. velopment of behavior before birth. Dev.
Science 274:1926–28 Psychol. 32:425–34
Salthouse TA. 1991. Theoretical Perspectives Spearman CE. 1927. The Abilities of Man.
on Cognitive Aging. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum New York: Macmillan
Salthouse TA. 1996. The processing-speed Spelke E, Vishton P, von Hofsten C. 1995. Ob-
LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY 507
ject perception, object-directed action, and See Baltes & Brim 1979, pp. 282–312
physical knowledge in infancy. See Gazza- Thompson LA. 1995. Encoding and memory
niga 1995, pp. 165–79 for visible speech and gestures: a compari-
Staudinger UM. 1996. Wisdom and the social- son between young and older adults. Psy-
interactive foundation of the mind. See chol. Aging 10:215–28
Baltes & Staudinger 1996, pp. 276–318 Tooby J, Cosmides L. 1995. Mapping the
Staudinger UM. 1998. Social cognition and a evolved functional organization of mind
psychological approach to an art of life. In and brain. See Gazzaniga 1995, pp.
Social Cognition, Adult Development, and 1185–97
Aging, ed. F Blanchard-Fields, BT Hess. Uttal DH, Perlmutter M. 1989. Toward a
New York: Academic. In press broader conceptualization of develop-
Staudinger UM, Marsiske M, Baltes PB. 1995. ment: the role of gains and losses across
Resilience and reserve capacity in later the life span. Dev. Rev. 9:101–32
adulthood: potentials and limits of devel- Valsiner J, Lawrence JA. 1997. Human devel-
opment across the life span. In Develop- opment in culture across the life-span. In
mental Psychopathology Vol. 2: Risk, Dis- Handbook of Cross–Cultural Psychology,
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org
CONTENTS
On Knowing a Word, George A. Miller 1
Cognitive Development: Children's Knowledge About the Mind, John H.
21
Flavell
Conflict in Marriage: Implications for Working with Couples, Frank D.
47
Fincham, Steven R. H. Beach
Psychopathology: Description and Classification, P. E. Nathan, J. W.
79
Langenbucher
Deductive Reasoning, P. N. Johnson-Laird 109
Health Psychology: Mapping Biobehaviorial Contributions to Health and
137
Illness, Andrew Baum, Donna M. Posluszny
Interventions for Couples, A. Christensen, C. L. Heavey 165
Emotion, John T. Cacioppo, Wendi L. Gardner 191
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999.50:471-507. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org