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...

In recent years, a number of researchers have begun to question the Piagetian theory that cognitive structural development ends with the adolescent's acquisition of formal operations and have begun to focus on the development of thought in late adolescence and adulthood. This volume brings together the work of numerous scholars in cognitive social, and perceptual development to explore the nature of postformal thought. The contributors represent the diversity of models and approaches that characterize the ongoing research in this area and, at the same time, act to unify this body of...

This volume is one of the first to concentrate on positive growth and development in a clinical arena, rather than loss and pathology. In contrast to the general theories and cross-sectional studies of existing adult developmental research, much of this volume looks at the whole-life level of development of adults through case studies. The book unites three compatible approaches to the study of adult development. The first considers the development of whole life. The second approach examines behavior during certain periods in adults' lives by combining clinical and developmental stage...

Examines the nature of late adolescent and adult thought and concludes that there is describable and significant cognitive development during those stages of life which goes beyond Piaget's stage of formal operations.

This collection illustrates how signal-detection theory, first advanced to account for performance in threshold-level sensory discrimination, has broadened to encompass a variety...

Originally published in 1991, this title was the result of a symposium held at Harvard University. It presents some of the exciting interdisciplinary developments of the time that clarify how animals and people learn to behave adaptively in a rapidly changing environment. The contributors focus on aspects of how recognition learning, reinforcement learning, and motor learning interact to generate adaptive goal-oriented behaviours that can satisfy internal needs an area of inquiry as important for understanding brain function as it is for designing new types of freely moving autonomous...