Adult Development 2500-EN_F_94
Seminarium (SEM) Semestr letni 2019/20

The mandatory textbook is:

McAdams, D. (1993) The stories we live by. The Guilford Press New York and London

The recommended textbooks for the course are:

 Cavanaugh, J.C., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2011). Adult Development and Aging (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

 Arnett, J. J. (2012). Human Development: A Cultural Approach. Pearson.

 Whitbourne, S. K., & Whitbourne, S. B. (2010). Adult Development and Aging: Biopsychosocial Perspectives (4th Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell

Further reading will be provided at the beginning of the course. Should interesting and/or important texts emerge during the course, they will be incorporated into the reading resources.

The students will become familiar with the main theories, concepts and issues relevant to development in adulthood. During the course the students will complete a small-scale qualitative project. They will design and conduct a life-story interview with an adult person or persons; conduct an analysis and write a report of their findings. This will allow the students to apply their theoretical knowledge and to witness theory in practice. It will also expose them to the research process as they will have to present their study.

Continuous assessment. The final grade is based on student presentation of a given topic in class (25%), participation in class (25%), and final report (50%).

The students are expected to attend all sessions. You are allowed 2 unexcused absences. If you are absent again, you will have to provide a very good reason or a doctor’s note. A third and fourth absence always means you will have to do extra work (such as write an essay on top of the required work) to pass the course. Five absences (and more) mean you will not pass the course.

Students must respect the principles of academic integrity. Cheating and plagiarism (including copying work from other students, internet or other sources) are serious violations that are punishable and instructors are required to report all cases to the administration.

METHODOLOGY SECTION: 4 sessions

1. Getting to know you, overview of the syllabus, overview of the course, deadlines, Q&A

2. Introduction to the narrative approach: the qualitative paradigm, qualitative approaches in psychology, what is the narrative approach and how can it be applied in research and practice?

3. Dan P. McAdams approach – philosophy, interview, analysis, applications

4. Overview of ideas and discussion of students’ projects

ADULT DEVELOPMENT SECTION: 8 sessions

Young & early adulthood: 2 sessions

5. Physical and cognitive development

 Initiation into adulthood: do rites of passage (still) exist in modern Western societies? What is maturity?

 Physical development: effects of lifestyle on health

 Cognitive development: intellectual/moral development

 The working life: the implications of getting a job; impact of dual-career couples on family.

6. Psychosocial development

 Personal development: responsibility for Self (Levinson, Erikson)

 Interpersonal relations: sex and love

 Identity development

 Individuation

Middle adulthood: 2 sessions

7. Physical and cognitive development

 Physical development: Health, muscular ability, sensory abilities, hormonal changes

 Cognitive development: Intelligence, memory, creativity, learning ability

 Cultural bias: is cognitive decline a fact?

 Do most people become more creative as they get older? (obstacles and aids to creativity)

 Working life: special problems of the working woman; the midcareer crisis and how to deal with it

8. Psychosocial development

 Stress: adaptation and resilience, risk factors

 Interpersonal relations: growing children and aging parents, siblings, marriage at middle age, friendships, divorce, attachment

 Sex & love: sex life, marriage at middle age, marriage therapy, divorce

 Stability and change in self-concept and personality

 Continuous traits theory

 Does everyone have a mid-life crisis?

Late adulthood: 2 sessions

9. Physical and cognitive development

 Must we age and die?

 Physiological and genetic theories of aging, effects of the environment on aging, other factors

 Physical development: health, reaction time, sensory abilities

 Neuropsychological research – new advances

 Cognitive development: creativity, language, problem solving, memory, wisdom

10. Psychosocial development

 Relationships and family life

 Personal development

 The older worker: performance, retirement

 What do you know about your grandparents?

 Assisted living and care giving

 Common types of counselling cases among the elderly

Dying and spirituality: 2 sessions

11. Death

 What is death? Understanding of and attitudes towards death

 Thinking and emotions of dying people

 Death with dignity: assisted suicide, the role of the hospice AND Suicide: the rejection of life, gender differences

 Children and death: children’s understandings of death; talking to children about death

 Grief work: the role of grief, the role of the funeral (cultural perspective)

 Everybody dies: how to deal with one’s own death

12. Spirituality

 Religious participation

 Theories of spirituality (Frankl, Jung, Wilson, Fowler)

 If you had your life to live over again, what would you do differently? Research & literature examples

 Course overview

13. Special Session (TIME ALLOWING!!!)

14.& 15. PRESENTATIONS OF STUDENT PROJECTS: 2 sessions

The mandatory textbook is:

McAdams, D. (1993) The stories we live by. The Guilford Press New York and London

The recommended textbooks for the course are:

 Cavanaugh, J.C., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2011). Adult Development and Aging (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

 Arnett, J. J. (2012). Human Development: A Cultural Approach. Pearson.

 Whitbourne, S. K., & Whitbourne, S. B. (2010). Adult Development and Aging: Biopsychosocial Perspectives (4th Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell

Further reading will be provided at the beginning of the course. Should interesting and/or important texts emerge during the course, they will be incorporated into the reading resources.

The students will become familiar with the main theories, concepts and issues relevant to development in adulthood. During the course the students will complete a small-scale qualitative project. They will design and conduct a life-story interview with an adult person or persons; conduct an analysis and write a report of their findings. This will allow the students to apply their theoretical knowledge and to witness theory in practice. It will also expose them to the research process as they will have to present their study.

Some lecturing, a lot of discussion, video material, working with real qualitative data, preparing a student presentation, and finally, presenting your own qualitative study to the class.