As individuals and adult educators we consistently face an array of what seem to be increasingly complex challenges. These run the gamut from battling poverty and illness with their deleterious and deadly effects, to acquiring literacy and workplace competencies and to building expertise in communication, collaboration and innovation. And we live…

Reviews theoretical and empirical developments in Erik Erikson's construct of generativity-stagnation. Presents a five-category model describing styles of resolving the issue using combinations of level of involvement or active concern for the growth of self and others; and level of inclusivity or scope of caregiving concern. Discusses model in…

The psychologist Erik Erikson describes his epigenetic theory of the stages of human development; Joan Erikson discusses the function of art as a healing medium. (SK)

When pioneering longitudinal studies of child development extended into adulthood, they generated issues that could not be addressed satisfactorily by available theories, including the recognition that individual lives are influenced by their ever-changing historical context and that human development concepts should apply to processes across the…

Discusses Erickson's and Maslow's empirically based formulations of healthy development. Through integration of their systems, six trends are derived: survival, growth, communication, recognition, mastery, and understanding. Trends relate to self-functions, interpersonal functioning, and task performance. Relates trends to three aspects of…

The past 15 years have brought a re-evaluation of women's adult development in light feminist thinking. However, many outdated assumptions in psychological theory remain comfortably ensconced; to challenge these ideas, some misrepresentations of women's experience are examined. The focus is on Erik Erikson's explanation of the second stage of…

Between the ages of thirty-five and fifty, adults become engrossed in questioning the meaning of work, marriage, and life itself. In the process, they must confront long-held false beliefs in their own immortality, safety, and innocence. (Author)

This paper points out a potential intersect between marriage counseling and developmental psychology. In so doing, it raises some questions about the possible widespread adoption of open marriage and its subsequent problems for marriage counseling. (Author)

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 author enunciates basic tenets of developmental theory and shows their application to work with adults. Counseling intervention is conceptualized as mobilizing resources to facilitate growth. Implications for the future of counseling psychology are considered. (Author)

A study of adult learners reveals four steps of transformative change in adult life: diffusion, dissonance, differentiation, and coherence. The educational implications of these steps are explored through case studies, and it is argued that these transformative changes affect not only the individual and the nature of adult education, but the…

Ties Native American Medicine Wheel teachings on the cycle of life to Eric Erickson's work on the eight developmental stages: trust, autonomy, initiative, accomplishment, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity. To have healthy communities, people need to move successfully through these stages. Knowing about these stages can help a person…

Describes an undergraduate course project where students helped mentally alert senior citizens write their life stories. By assisting senior citizens to organize memories and interpret life decisions, the students experienced stages they had not yet lived through. Students evaluated the course project as a positive learning and personal growth…

Life cycle and stage theories are used to show how adult learners experience educational programs differently according to their individual developmental stages. It is argued that quality adult education can and should affect a person's perspective and create new life meanings. (JSR)