Adult Development and Aging 7th Edition
by John C. Cavanaugh (Author), Fredda Blanchard-Fields (Author)

Description
 
Written within a bio-psychosocial framework, Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields' best-selling text covers the specific ages-stages of adult development and aging. In its unparalleled coverage of current research and theory, the authors draw clear connections between research and application. The book's focus on "positive aging" and the gains and losses people experience across adulthood distinguish it from its competitors.
New to this Edition
A new feature, "Adult Development in Action," encourages students to think critically about decisions they would make in various situations-for example, as a director of a senior center, a nursing home administrator, or a website designer at an Office on Aging.
A new section in Chapter 1 introduces "emerging adulthood" as the period between adolescence and full adulthood.
Chapter 2 includes the latest insights into neuroscience as a basis for adult development and again. A new section on neuroimaging techniques explains how the ability to see inside the brain of living people has revolutionized our understanding of the relations between the brain and our behavior. Another new section discusses age-related changes in neurons, including the decrease in neurons as the brain declines. There's also a new discussion of neurotransmitters and their involvement in brain processes as well as cognitive aging, especially in Alzheimer's patients.
Chapter 2 includes a new section, "The Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory," which examines the notion that intelligence comes from a distributed and integrated network of neurons in the parietal and frontal areas of the brain.
Chapter 3, "Physical Changes," includes new discussion of how chronic stress can accelerate changes in telomeres-while moderate exercise can slow the rate at which telomeres shorten. The chapter also discusses hormone replacement therapy and how decreasing levels of estrogen can contribute to osteoporosis, urinary incontinence, and cardiovascular disease.
Chapter 4, "Longevity, Health, and Functioning," includes new examples of how self-ratings of health reflect socio-economic background. It also explains the way in which Verbrugge and Jette's model is being used to identify disability in China. In addition, a new section discusses how adults with disabilities or functional limitations are on the rise around the world.
Chapter 5, "Where People Live: Person-Environment Interactions," includes a new discussion of "elderspeak" used in nursing homes.
In Chapter 6, "Attention and Memory," a new section entitled "Age Differences in Encoding versus Retrieval" compares the differences in the attention processes of older and younger adults. There's also new material on recent neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience findings that show age related differences in encoding and retrieval. The chapter includes a new "Current Controversies" box on "Concussions and Athletes."
Chapter 7, "Intelligence," has new sections entitled "Neuroscience Research and Intelligence in Young and Middle Adulthood" and "How do We Know? Age Differences in Information Search and Decision Making."
Chapter 8, "Social Cognition," has a new section that discusses our self-perception of aging. There's also a new section on attributional biases that examines whether there are age differences in the tendency to rely more on dispositional attributions, situational attributions, or on a combination of both when making casual attributions. Finally, the chapter has a new Current Controversies" box entitled "New Diagnostic Criteria for Alzheimer's Disease."
 
About the Author
 
John C. Cavanaugh is President and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. Cavanaugh is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Gerontological Society of America, and has served as president of the Adult Development and Aging Division (Division 20) of the APA. Cavanaugh has also written (with the late Fredda Blanchard-Fields) ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING. His research interests in gerontology concern family caregiving as well as the role of beliefs in older adults' cognitive performance.