Integrating Aging Topics Into Psychology: A Practical Guide for Teaching Undergraduates

by Susan Krauss Whitbourne

This edited work provides psychology instructors with practical instruction for integrating ageing and adult development topics into their courses. The field of gerontology is one of the fastest growing areas in psychology. However, most undergraduate psychology students are rarely exposed to research and theory about the topic in their core classes. If a course does include the topic, class time spent covering it is typically insignificant. At the same time, most psychology textbooks lack sufficient information or material about ageing topics. This inadequate coverage of ageing content in psychology courses has created a learning gap for students. provide guidance about ageing topics in the core curriculum, as well as in more specialized areas, such as gender and industrial organizational psychology. The authors not only introduce and discuss different types of ageing content but also present methods for organizing and presenting it within the framework of the regular course structure. They provide simple but effective class exercises and direct instructors to useful supplementary resources. Each chapter also includes an annotated bibliography or resource list. This book provides psychology instructors with useful strategies that will help them introduce their students to the key issues about aging and adult development.

Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., is currently a professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where for 20 years she directed the undergraduate Honors Program in Psychology. She now directs the Commonwealth Honors College's Office of National Scholarship Advisement. She grew up in Buffalo, N.Y. and graduated from the University at Buffalo. She received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral respecialization program in clinical psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The author of over 150 refereed articles and book chapters and 16 books (many in multiple editions and translations), her most recent work is The Search for Fulfillment (January 2010, Ballantine Books). Her research covers a wide range of topics related to adult development and aging, including personality development through midlife, contributors to successful aging, predictors of memory performance, and the relationship between physical health and sense of personal identity. She teaches large undergraduate lecture classes and maintains an active lab of graduate students whose research focuses on life-span development, dementia, and functional abilities in older adults.

Recepient of a 2011 Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, she is the winner of national and campus teaching and advising awards. She has served in executive board and advisory roles in regional and national professional organizations including the American Psychological Association (Council of Representatives and Membership Board), the Council of Professional Geropsychology Training Programs (Chair-Elect), the Eastern Psychological Association (Executive Board), the Society for the Study of Human Development (past President), the Gerontological Society of America (Executive Board member), the National Association of Fellowship Advisors (Executive Board member), and Psi Chi (past Eastern Regional Vice President), as well as a member of numerous task forces and advisory panels at the national, regional, state, and campus levels.

Whitbourne lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with her husband and has the distinct pleasure of having raised two daughters who chose to follow their mother's profession. Her older daughter, Stacey, a developmental/health psychologist, is now a co-author on her adult development text, and her younger daughter, Jennifer is pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology. Her hobbies include knitting and playing the piano, and through her frequent participation in aerobics classes, she practices what she preaches about the value of aging and exercise.