Adult Learning and Development

Adult education occurs whenever individuals engage in sustained, systematic learning in order to affect changes in their attitudes, knowledge, skills, or belief systems. Learning, instruction, and developmental processes are the primary foci of educational psychology research and theorizing, but educational psychologists' work in these domains has centered primarily on the childhood and adolescent school years. More recently, however, a number of educational psychologists have studied learning and development in adulthood. The results of these efforts have resulted in what is now called adult educational psychology. The purpose of this volume is to introduce this new subfield within educational psychology. Section 1 focuses on the interplay between learning and development in adulthood, how various forms of instruction lead to different learning outcomes for adults, description of the diverse social contexts in which adult learning takes place, and the development of metacognitive knowledge across the life span. Section 2 describes both research and theory pertaining to adult intellectual functioning, thinking, and problem-solving skills within various contexts. Section 3 describes research in a variety of adult learning domains; discusses the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of reading in adulthood and the applications of reading in real-life circumstances; examines an educational intervention developed to promote forgiveness; and relates the outcomes of an intervention designed to educate parents about their children's mathematics learning. Section 4 summarizes the themes and issues running throughout this, the first book that has sought to span the gulf between adult education, adult development, and educational psychology.

Thomas Pourchot, M. Cecil Smith

Contents: M. Pressley, Foreword. Preface. Part I:Introduction.M.C. Smith, T. Pourchot, What Does Educational Psychology Know About Adult Learning and Development? Part II:Theoretical Perspectives.N. Granott, We Learn, Therefore We Develop: Learning Versus Development--or Developing Learning? J. Pascual-Leone, R.R. Irwin, Abstraction, the Will, the Self, and Modes of Learning in Adulthood. C.J. Bonk, K.A. Kim, Extending Sociocultural Theory to Adult Learning. G. Schraw, On the Development of Adult Metacognition. Part III:Knowing, Learning, and Problem-Solving in Adulthood.B. Torff, R.J. Sternberg, Changing Mind, Changing World: Practical Intelligence and Tacit Knowledge in Adult Learning. M. Schommer, The Role of Adults' Beliefs About Knowledge in School, Work, and Everyday Life. P.L. Ackerman, Adult Intelligence: Sketch of a Theory and Applications to Learning and Education. R.N. Carney, J.R. Levin, Mnemonic Strategies for Adult Learners. Part IV:Adult Educational Psychology.B.J.F. Meyer, A.P. Talbot, Adult Age Differences in Reading and Remembering Text and Using This Information to Make Decisions in Everyday Life. M.C. Smith, The Educational Psychology of Reading in Adulthood. C.T. Coyle, R.D. Enright, Forgiveness Education With Adult Learners. L. Shumow, Contributions of Parent Education to Adult Development. Part V:Conclusion.M.C. Smith, T. Pourchot, Toward an Adult Educational Psychology. Author Index. Subject Index.