Discusses the psychological and spiritual healing for African American women survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Considers adult sexuality for these women. Includes implications for counselors and recommendations for their self-care. (Author/JDM)

Tara L. Kuther, the author of this article, is an associate professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, where she teaches courses in child, adolescent, and adult development. She is chair of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology's Instructional Resource Awards Task Force and the author of "The Psychology Major's…

The possible selves construct is presented as a useful and largely untapped perspective on adult learning. Special attention is given to the role of educational helping relationships in fostering positive possible selves among adult learners.

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…

The more adult educators understand about motivation and the forces that affect it, the better their chances of helping adults attain learning objectives. Program planning partly involves applying leverage or extrinsic pressure on the forces for growth and safety inherent in every learning situation to bring about learning and change. (Author)

Discusses two experiments in which middle-aged, elderly, professional, and non-professional males and females were given the Conceptual Styles Test. An analysis of variance on the percentage of complementary responses revealed significant effects for age, occupation, and th interaction between age and sex. (ED)

Projections, based on current rates, are that 40% of recent marriages will end in divorce. To investigate the factors associated with long term marriage stability and satisfaction among elderly persons, 60 California older adults (30 married, 30 divorced) were interviewed about their perceptions of the role of companionship, alternatives to…

For the healthy midlife adult, the second half of life provides a balance for the first half: men become more nurturant while women become more aggressive. The definition of the midlife woman is tied to the family cycle, when her children leave home. Marital satisfaction often increases after the children are gone and relinquishing her role as…

To understand the change and development of people's attitudes toward death over the life span, a 62-item attitude questionnaire on death and dying was administered to 90 adults. Participants included five females and five males in each of nine age categories: 18-20, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-64, and 65 or older. Participants…

Current research focusing on long-term marriages have assessed marriages at one time period only. To sort out age and stage differences from cohort effects, a longitudinal case study analysis was undertaken with the 17 surviving couples of the Berkeley Older Generation Study, a group that has been interviewed in young adulthood (1929-30), in…

This staff development module is part of one of three groups of career guidance modules developed, field-tested, and revised by a six-state consortium coordinated by the American Institutes for Research. This module is designed for adults in helping roles who are experiencing or anticipating life transitions affecting their careers, or who work…

To determine what a theory of adult learning should encompass, three topics were considered: current status of adult learning theory, contributions of the developmentalists, and foundation for a total person model of adult learning theory. An overview of activity related to theory building in adult learning during the 1970s showed the emphasis…

This handbook has been designed to allow organizations and institutions to develop a basic course in gerontology relative to their own individual needs. Intended to provide a method and a wide variety of materials from which to select in order to design a course suitable for a particular setting, the selection of this format was guided by the need…

This paper is concerned with the dynamics of the adult socialization process. The general hypothesis is: the level of aspiration of a patient is positively associated with his socialization (his rehabilitation) outcome. Subjects were 105 patients with spinal cord injuries or amputations. The two aspects of socialization considered in the study are…

This study explores the relationship of ego-stage development (based on the theories of Erik Erikson and roughly defined as psychological maturity) to experiences which a group of adults identified as leading to re-creation for them. The author believes that re-creation -- defined as a feeling of heightened well-being or a sense of renewal and…