Adult Development: Volume 2: Models and Methods in the Study of Adolescent and Adult Thought

by Michael L. Commons (Editor), Cheryl Armon (Editor), Lawrence Kohlberg (Editor), Francis A. Richards (Editor), Tina A. Grotzer (Editor)

Overview

In recent years, researchers have begun to focus attention on postformal thought—the development of thought in late adolescence and adulthood—questioning Piaget's early terminus of structural development in adolescence. This volume brings together the works of distinguished authors in the field of postformal-operational cognitive, social, and perceptual development to examine the models and methodology used to investigate postformal thought. The contributors represent the variety of approaches that characterize this body of research, while, at the same time, seeking to unify this diverse literature with a common language. An ideal text for advanced courses in adult development, this volume is also a primary reference for developmental and educational psychologists and students working in the fields of cognitive development, adolescent and adult development, and lifespan development.

Divided into four parts, the volume begins by examining both Piagetian and nonstructural models of adult cognitive development, considering them in light of current research developments. Individual papers address models of equilibrium, knowledge, reflective judgment, ego-development, and consciousness. In Part II, the contributors discuss the measurement and comparison of cognitive development in adults, exploring such topics as construct validity and theories of adult development, the structural and developmental relations between formal and postformal capacities, and the relationship between Piagetian and Kohlbergian stages. The third section assesses the research and theory of adult reasoning in the moral domain, while the concluding chapter investigates critical evaluations of postformal research. Numerous tables and figures enhance the discussions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275927554
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/23/1990
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

MICHAEL L. COMMONS is Lecturer and Research Associate in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, and Director of the Dare Institute. He is also the editor of several previous collections of original papers including Beyond Formal Operations (Praeger, 1984) and Adult Development (Praeger, 1979).

CHERYL ARMON is Chairperson of the Undergraduate Program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. She has coedited several previous collections of original papers including Beyond Formal Operations (Praeger, 1984) and Adult Devlopment, 1 (Praeger, 1979).

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG was Professr of Education and Social Psychology at Harvard University and Director of the Center for Moral Education and Development before his death in January, 1987.

FRANCIS A. RICHARDS is Evaluation and Testing Specialist in the Division of Management Information and Education of the Rhode Island Department of Education. Richards is also a coeditor of several previous collections of original papers including Beyond Formal Operations (Praeger, 1984) and Adult Development, 1 (Praeger, 1979).

TINA A. GROTZER is Research Associate at the Dare Institute and Coordinator of the Arlington, Massachusetts Public Schools' Challenge and Enrichment Programs. Her current interests include the cognitive and moral development of children and young adults.

JAN D. SINNOTT is Professor of Psychology at Towson State University and affiliated with the National Institute on Aging (NIH). She is also a clinician and a co-editor of Adult Development, 1 (Praeger, 1979) as well as the author of over 70 publications.

Table of Contents

Preface
Structural and Nonstructural Models of Postformal Thought
Equilibration Models and the Framework of Postformal Cognition by Francis A. Richards
Alfred North Whitehead and Adult Model Development by Allan B. Chinen
Modes of Knowledge and the Organization of Development by Gisela Labouvie-Vief
The Reflective Judgment Model: Ten Years of Research by Karen Strohm Kitchener and Patricia M. King
Maps for Living: Ego-Development Stages from Symbiosis to Conscious Universal Embeddedness by Susanne R. Cook-Greuter
Unitary Consciousness and the Highest Development of Mind: The Relation Between Spiritual Development and Cognitive Development by Herb Koplowitz
Construct Validity and Theories of Adult Development: Testing for Necessary but Not Sufficient Relationships by Phillip Karl Wood
Measurements and Comparisons of Formal and Postformal Cognitive Operations
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Evidence for Differences between Well-Structured and Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Abilities by Mary M. Brabeck and Phillip K. Wood
Structural and Developmental Relations Between Formal and Postformal Capacities: Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Adolescent and Adult Cognitive Development by Andreas Demetriou
Applying Signal Detection Theory to Measure Subject Sensitivity to Metasystematic, Systematic and Lower-Developmental-Stage Signals by Francis A. Richards and Michael L. Commons.
Detecting Metasystematic, Systematic, and Lower-Stage Relations: An Empirical Investigation of Postformal Stages of Development by Francis A. Richards
The Relationship Between Piagetian and Kohlbergian Stage: An Examination of the "Necessary but Not Sufficient Relationship" by Michael L. Commons and Tina A. Grotzer
Postformal Models in the Moral Domain
The Development of Justice Reasoning During Young Adulthood: A Three-Dimensional Model by Mark B. Tappan
A Rawlsian View of Kohlberg's Conception of Stage-Six Justice Reasoning by Albert Erdynast
Critical Views of Postformal Thought
Which Postformal Levels Are Stages? by Lawrence Kohlberg
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index