An adult developmental model of self-regulated language processing (SRLP) is introduced, in which the allocation policy with which a reader engages text is driven by declines in processing capacity, growth in knowledge-based processes, and age-related shifts in reading goals. Evidence is presented to show that the individual reader's allocation…

This article summarizes results from studies of the organization and development of cognitive abilities in adults aged 20 to 60 years old. Theories of intelligence stipulating a hierarchy of intellectual functions, with fluid and crystallized intelligence at the top, are supported. Six conclusions on age differences are offered. (Author/RD)

This article proposes use of a life-span developmental perspective in research on adults with learning disabilities. Considerations for incorporating such essential concepts as mediating variables, context, and age-span phases into research on this population are discussed. (DB)

This paper proposes a model, with experience as the key concept, which focuses on the continuity of changes throughout adulthood. It assumes that as people move through time, they continually make experiences, the quantity, range and content of which may vary across individuals. A distinction is suggested between the process of "making…

Transcripts of the spontaneous remarks of adult visitors to a fine arts museum were analyzed according to four models of aesthetic experience. An expanded alternative model is proposed that incorporates some features from each model to better describe how visitors respond to the aesthetic experience. (SLD)

The instrumental and expressive utilities of participating in education differ among participants. To ascertain how age affects their perception of these forms of utility, questionnaires were executed by 400 middle class participants ages 18-84 in 45 classes for adults in the Chicago area. Independent variables influencing perception of utility…

This paper presents a model of cognitive development across the life span that is designed to integrate the diverse empirical evidence in the area of cognitive development in childhood and adulthood. Relevant research is reviewed in the relationships between performance and age, and the effects of training on performance. A model is then proposed…

The developmental model of self-concept proposed by M. Lynch and M. Levy (1982) is extended through the entire adult life cycle. Self-concept is seen as a set of cognitive rules that have affective or cognitive consequences and that operate like the ego functions proposed by Freud. (SLD)

In this part of the Kansas City Study of Adult Life, educational implications of adult activities and goals were explored, with emphasis on effective living in middle life. Performance of adult developmental tasks and motivation toward effort in these areas were investigated. Criteria were offered for assessing high, medium, and low performance in…