Proceedings of a Conference held in Montreal, Canada, November 15-17, 1996

This book arises from a conference held in November 1996 designed to examine how competence can be improved in the different stages ofthe lifespan. To this end, we brought together eminent researchers in different areas of human development—infancy, childhood, and adulthood, including the late adult years. The conference was based on the premise that discussion arising from the interfaces of research and practice would increase our knowledge of and stimulate the further application of effective interventions designed to improve competence. The editors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Concordia University and the Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l’Aide a la Recherche (FCAR) in providing funding and other assistance toward the conference “Improving Competence Across the Lifespan” and toward the publication of this book. Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to the numerous students associated with our Centre for their help and to Gail Pitts and Lesley Husband of the Centre for Research in Human Development for their assistance. We are especially grateful to Donna Craven, Centre for Research in Human Development, for her heroic work on both the conference and the present volume. We could not have met our goals without you.

Now published by SAGE! With its seamless integration of up-to-date research, strong multicultural and cross-cultural focus, and clear, engaging narrative, Development Through the Lifespan, by best-selling author Laura E. Berk, has established itself as the market’s leading text. Known for staying current, the fully updated Seventh Edition offers the latest, most relevant research and applications in the field of human development. New and compelling topics, rich examples, coupled with Berk’s signature storytelling style, makes this edition the most accessible and engaging text available to students today. Included with this title: LMS Cartridge: Import this title’s instructor resources into your school’s learning management system (LMS) and save time. Don’t use an LMS? You can still access all of the same online resources for this title via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site. Learn more.

Along with psychopathology, cognition has been one of the primary phenotypic focal points of the field of behavior genetics since its inception. Francis Galton’s 1874 examination of eminent families in Britain was among the earliest attempts to investigate whether cognitive achievements run in families. This volume presents current methodologies for understanding cognitive abilities that move beyond the outdated nature vs. nurture paradigm. Recent advances in both collection and statistical modeling of twin data, particularly longitudinal twin data, make this an especially advantageous moment to produce a work that presents a collection of the groundbreaking research on cognitive abilities across the lifespan. This volume presents an overview of the current state of quantitative and molecular genetic investigations into the many facets of cognitive performance and functioning across the lifespan.​

Social skills are critical to psychological adjustment across the lifespan. These skills are necessary for attaining a variety of important social, emotional, and interpersonal goals. Social skill definits and resulting negative social interactions are associated with a wide variety of adjustment problems and psychological disorders. Social Skills across the Life Span: Theory is a comprehensive social skills volume providing in-depth coverage of theory, assessment, and intervention. Divided into three major sections, the volume begins with the definition of social competence, developmental factors, and relations to adjustment. This is followed by coverage of general assessment and intervention issues across the lifespan. In the third section, program developers describe specific evidence-based interventions.

The study of adolescence in the field of psychology has grown tremendously over the last two decades, necessitating a comprehensive and up-to-date revision of this seminal work. This multidisciplinary handbook, edited by the premier scholars in the field, Richard Lerner and Laurence Steinberg, and with contributions from the leading researchers, reflects the latest empirical work and growth in the field.

Taking a unique approach, which highlights lived experience and engagement with community, this book guides the reader on how to create learning environments in which children are encouraged to develop relationships, build meaningful connections and take action which contributes to the wellbeing of their own communities. Through evaluations and feedback from participating professionals, as well as children’s learning in the form of artworks and photos, Building Empathy in Children through Community Connections: A Guide for Early Years Educators highlights how community partnership programs between children and community groups builds empathy and wellbeing in early childhood. Drawing on extensive research and professional experience in psychology and early childhood, it provides details of various community connections programs and considers the ways in which early learning settings can engage with their communities as they meet the requirements and objectives of the curriculum. Each chapter provides practical advice on implementation as well as take-home messages intended to encourage and enable community engagement. Demonstrating how young children can develop empathy through building community connections, this book is a vital resource for early childhood educators as well as parents and those working in community programs and early childhood settings.

Intergenerational Programs: Understanding What We Have Created focuses on research efforts to design, improve, and evaluate activities among younger and older individuals while examining how intergenerational activities impact children, families, and older adult participants. The first single volume to reflect the current state of research knowledge in this area, this vital guide provides practitioners, program developers, researchers, and students with case studies, research findings, and models and examples of productive activities. It will help you guide short- and long-term program development, document activity effectiveness, and ensure program survival during fiscal hardships to give participants constructive and positive experiences. Discussing the opportunity to transfer experience and knowledge of older persons in our society to future generations, Intergenerational Programs: Understanding What We Have Created examines the challenges that may arise in providing meaningful activities for younger and older persons. This helpful book explores research methods, such as qualitative approaches with large, national data sets; observations; program histories; and qualitative analyses of interviews with small numbers of program participants to help you create appropriate activities and foster interdependence between these two age groups. Intergenerational Programs: Understanding What We Have Created will help you research programs and produce successful activity outcomes with such techniques as: using an ethnographic approach, involving a holistic perspective and using field-based data collection methods, to meet the challenges of creating programs among two different age groups and the social problems each group faces using constructivist and sociocultural orientations, which are traditionally applied to a “classroom learning,” to offer new ways of viewing and assessing learning in community-based programs understanding the positive effects grandparents can have on their grandchildren, including helping parents resolve children's behavioral problems and assisting in providing positive environments incorporating knowledge of drug abuse issues, problem-solving skills, feelings of self-worth, and academic goals into programs to benefit youths developing elder-care services in conjunction with businesses to improve the quality of life for the elderly and the workers, as well as decreasing workers’absenteeism, mistakes, and time used to make personal calls to elderly relatives who need care Comprehensive and intelligent, this current book contains studies and research that explore the negative and positive aspects of certain activities, allowing you to learn from the experiences of others. This book provides research methods and evaluation measures to help you decide what kinds of activities are needed in order to best benefit participants. As a result, you will be able to create relevant programs, assess their effectiveness, and help join different generations in working together for an improved quality of life for all group members.

A multidisciplinary resource that combines the latest research with the best practices for working with older adults The Handbook of Gerontology: Evidence-Based Approaches to Theory, Practice, and Policy provides an essential source of important theoretical and applied information on gerontology for all mental health professionals interested in optimizing the health and well-being of older adults. Interdisciplinary and incorporating the most current evidence-based practices in its focus, this timely book considers the many factors that affect the way this growing population experiences the world-and provides a positive and proactive guide to administering care. Integrating the latest research findings with important practice implications for working with an older client population, the Handbook of Gerontology draws on a multidisciplinary team of expert contributors who provide coverage and insight into a diverse range of topics, including: A global perspective on aging Elder abuse Family caregiving Parenting grandchildren Depression Substance abuse Alzheimer's disease Successful aging and personality Biological and cognitive aspects and theories of aging An exceptional resource for practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and students, the Handbook of Gerontology is essential reading for anyone who works with older adults.

This Handbook draws together leading social scientists in the world from multiple disciplines to articulate what is known and needs to be known about spiritual development in childhood and adolescence.