The Oxford Handbook of Emotion, Social Cognition, and Problem Solving in Adulthood

by Paul Verhaeghen, Christopher Hertzog

Overview

Over the last decade, the field of socio-emotional development and aging has rapidly expanded, with many new theories and empirical findings emerging. This trend is consistent with the broader movement in psychology to consider social, motivational, and emotional influences on cognition and behavior.

The Oxford Handbook of Emotion, Social Cognition, and Problem Solving in Adulthood provides the first overview of a new field of adult development that has emerged out of conceptualizations and research at the intersections between socioemotional development, social cognition, emotion, coping, and everyday problem solving. This field roundly rejects a universal deficit model of aging, highlighting instead the dynamic nature of socio-emotional development and the differentiation of individual trajectories of development as a function of variation in contextual and experiential influences. It emphasizes the need for a cross-level examination (from biology and neuroscience to cognitive and social psychology) of the determinants of emotional and socio-emotional behavior. This volume also serves as a tribute to the late Fredda Blanchard-Fields, whose thinking and empirical research contributed extensively to a life-span developmental view of emotion, problem solving, and social cognition. Its chapters cover multiple aspects of adulthood and aging, presenting developmental perspectives on emotion; antecedents and consequences of emotion in context; everyday problem solving; social cognition; goals and goal-related behaviors; and wisdom. The landmark volume in this new field, The Oxford Handbook of Emotion, Social Cognition, and Problem Solving in Adulthood is an important resource for cognitive, developmental, and social psychologists, as well as researchers and graduate students in the field of aging, emotion studies, and social psychology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199899463
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/17/2014
Series:	Oxford Library of Psychology
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 7.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Paul Verhaeghen, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology. He is interested in working memory, attention, executive control, creativity, aging, and the interfaces between them.


Christopher K. Hertzog, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology. He specializes in adult development and aging, with an emphasis on understanding individual differences in cognitive changes in old age and variables that can help predict and explain successful cognitive aging, including health, lifestyle, and adaptive self-regulation.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
Paul Verhaeghen and Christopher Hertzog

Part One: Emotion during Adulthood

2. Older Adults' Perception of Social and Emotional Cues
Louise H. Phillips, Gillian Slessor, Phoebe E. Bailey, and Julie D. Henry

3. The Effects of Age on Memory for Socio-Emotional Material: An Affective Neuroscience Perspective
Elizabeth A. Kensinger, Eric R. Allard, and Anne C. Krendl

4. Age Changes in Facial Morphology, Emotional Communication, and Age Stereotyping
Mary Lee Hummert

5. Do Everyday Affective Experiences Differ Throughout Adulthood? A Review of Ambulatory-Assessment Evidence
Michaela Riediger and Antje Rauers

Part Two: Emotion in Context: Antecedents and Consequences

6. The Dynamics of Cognitive-Emotional Integration: Complexity and Hedonics in Emotional Development
Gisela Labouvie-Vief, Anne-Laure Gilet, and Nathalie Mell

7. Putting Emotional Aging in Context: Contextual Influences on Age-Related Changes in Emotion Regulation and Recognition
Jennifer Tehan Stanley and Derek M. Isaacowitz

8. Positive Emotions and Health in Adulthood and Later Life
Catherine Riffin, Anthony D. Ong, and Cindy S. Bergeman

9. Boundary Conditions for Emotional Well-being in Aging: The Importance of Daily Stress
Martin J. Sliwinski and Stacey B. Scott

10. Tasks, Capacities, and Tactics: A Skill-based Conceptualization of Emotion Regulation across the Lifespan
Nathan S. Consedine and Iris Mauss

11. Reconciling Cognitive Decline and Increased Well-being with Age: The Role of Increased Emotion Regulation Efficiency
Erin Senesac Morgan and Susanne Scheibe

Part Three: Everyday Problem Solving

12. Contextual Variation in Adults' Emotion Regulation During Everyday Problem Solving
Michelle A. Skinner, Cynthia A. Berg, and Bert N. Uchino

13. Goals and Strategies for Solving Interpersonal Everyday Problems across the Life Span
JoNell Strough and Emily J. Keener

14. Goals, Strategies, and Well-Being across Adulthood: Integrating Perspectives from the Coping and Everyday Problem-Solving Literatures
Abby Heckman Coats, Christiane Hoppmann, and Stacey B. Scott

Part Four: Social Cognition and Goals

15. My Heart Will Go On: Aging and Autonomic Nervous System Responding in Emotion
Michelle N. Shiota and Samantha L. Neufeld

16. Aging Influences on Judgment and Decision Processes: Interactions between Ability and Experience
Thomas M. Hess and Tara L. Queen

17. Wisdom and Emotions
Monika Ardelt and Michel Ferrari

18. Values across Adulthood: A Neglected Developmental Construct Guiding Thought and
Action over Time
Johannes O. Ritter and Alexandra M. Freund

19. Causal Attributions across the Adult Lifespan
Michelle Horhota, Andrew Mienaltowski, and Yiwei Chen

20. Stereotype Threat in Older Adults: When and Why Does it Occur and Who is Most Affected?
Sarah J. Barber and Mara Mather

Editorial Reviews

"Demographers have estimated that about 10,000 people will turn 65 every day between 2011 and 2030, transforming the age structure of our society. Verhaeghen and Hertzog have compiled a remarkable volume to help fill the void in knowledge about cognitive and emotional development across adulthood. The volume promises to be a landmark contribution." -John T. Cacioppo, Ph.D., Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, and Director, Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, University of Chicago

"Understanding adult development means understanding the dynamic interplay between emotional, social, and cognitive changes. The Oxford Handbook of Emotion, Social Cognition, and Problem Solving in Adulthood provides both a comprehensive portrait of this multifaceted research program and much-needed integration. In doing so, it celebrates the legacy of Fredda Blanchard-Fields, one of the most enthusiastic promoters of an integrated life-span perspective, and it sets critical guideposts for those keen on further moving this ambitious research enterprise forward." -Ulrich Mayr, Dr. Phil., Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon, and Editor, Psychology and Aging

"The Oxford Handbook of Emotion, Social Cognition, and Problem Solving in Adulthood speaks volumes on the latest theory and research. A fitting tribute to Dr. Fredda Blanchard-Fields, this book captures the breadth of her path-breaking work and takes it to a new level. The chapters are written by a stellar set of authors, a virtual who's who of social cognition in adulthood. This is an invaluable, must-have resource with each chapter providing a state-of-the-art treatise and spearheading a new frontier of research." -Margie E. Lachman, Minnie and Harold Fierman Professor of Psychology, Brandeis University

"Chapters are consistently formatted with an abstract, key words, conclusions, directions for future research, notes, and references. Numerous tables and figures help clarify the information. This well-written book shows how the aging process impacts cognitive, social, and emotional functioning. " —Gary B Kaniuk, Doody's Health Sciences Book Review

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From the Publisher

Reviewer: Gary Kaniuk, PsyD (Cermak Health Services)
Description: This book describes the relationship between socio-emotional factors and problem-solving in adults. It takes a life-span approach using evidence from biology, neuroscience, and social psychology.
Purpose: The book is described as "the first overview of a new field of adult development that has emerged out of conceptualizations and research at the intersections between socio-emotional development, social cognition, emotion, coping, and everyday problem solving. This field roundly rejects a universal deficit model of aging, highlighting instead the dynamic nature of socio-emotional development and the differentiation of individual trajectories of development as a function of variation in contextual and experiential influences.""
Audience: It is intended for cognitive, developmental, and social psychologists, as well as researchers and graduate students in the field of aging, emotion studies, and social psychology. The editors include are both professors at Georgia Institute of Technology, while the contributors are from the U.S., New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, France, Australia, Scotland, and Germany.
Features: The book is dedicated to Fredda Blanchard-Fields, who died in 2010, and her work, which emphasized the importance of lifespan developmental psychology. Part one explores how older adults perceive, process, and display emotion, noting how aging decreases the ability to label emotional expression and how older adults remember more positive information than younger people. Part two considers the antecedents and consequences of emotion, showing how aging is related to increased tension and cognitive processing problems as a result of high arousal levels and discussing research findings that point to older adults having high levels of well-being despite decreases in cognitive functioning. The next part addresses practical problem solving. It has been discovered that context plays an important role in how individual strengths and/or vulnerabilities are impacted. Older adults tend to use passive strategies, i.e., accepting things the way they are, as opposed to younger individuals who are more proactive. The book ends with a discussion of social cognition and goals, which notes how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) influences emotional regulation and, during the aging process, some pathways of the ANS become less reactive and others more reactive. This part also discusses how changes in cognitive processes negatively affect judgment and decision making, although life experiences can benefit the individual. Finally, it notes that older people have wisdom that reflects a deeper understanding of relationships and situations. Chapters are consistently formatted with an abstract, key words, conclusions, directions for future research, notes, and references. Numerous tables and figures help clarify the information.
Assessment: This well-written book shows how the aging process impacts cognitive, social, and emotional functioning.

Doody's Review Service