Handbook of Cognitive Aging: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

"Provides a unique perspective. I am particularly impressed with the sections on innovative design and methods to investigate cognitive aging and the integrative perspectives. None of the existing texts covers this material to the same level."
―Donna J. La Voie, Saint Louis University

"The emphasis on integrating the literature with theoretical and methodological innovations could have a far-reaching impact on the field."
―Deb McGinnis, Oakland University

The Handbook of Cognitive Aging: Interdisciplinary Perspectives clarifies the differences in patterns and processes of cognitive aging. Along with a comprehensive review of current research, editors Scott M. Hofer and Duane F. Alwin provide a solid foundation for building a multidisciplinary agenda that will stimulate further rigorous research into these complex factors.

Key Features

• Gathers the widest possible range of perspectives by including cognitive aging experts in various disciplines while maintaining a degree of unity across chapters 
• Examines the limitations of the extant literature, particularly in research design and measurement, and offers new suggestions to guide future research 
• Highlights the broad scope of the field with topics ranging from demography to development to neuroscience, offering the most complete coverage available on cognitive aging

Scott M. Hofer is Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences and Director, Psychosocial Core, Center for Healthy Aging Research at the Oregon State University. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Southern California in 1994 and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Manchester and the Center for Developmental and Health Genetics at the Pennsylvania State University. His research examines the role of aging and health on changes in cognitive functioning, in interaction with demographic and psychosocial influences, and on statistical analysis and design issues for understanding developmental and aging processes. He collaborates with national and international researchers on longitudinal studies on aging and is associate investigator on research networks in Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. He is currently leading the development of an international collaborative network for the Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies on Aging (IALSA).

Duane F. Alwin is Tracy Winfree and Ted H. McCourtney Professor in Sociology, Demography, and Human Development at Pennsylvania State University, where he is affiliated with the Population Research Institute, the Survey Research Center, and the Gerontology Center. Prior to moving to Penn State, Alwin held an appointment for 23 years in the Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. The focus of his research and teaching includes survey methodology, families and children, socio-economic inequalities and health disparities, aging and the life course, and the linkages between processes of individual development, history and social change.