The chapters in this volume evolved from oral presentations given at the Thirteenth West Virginia University Conference on Life-Span Developmental Psychology, held in Morgantown, West Virginia. Consistent with preceding volumes in this series, the contributors represent a variety of disciplines related to the theme of the conference and the ensuing volume: In the present instance, the theme is biological and neuropsychological mechanisms in life-span psychological development, and the disciplines represented are behavioral medicine, neurology, neuropsychology, psychophysiology, and psychology. The theme is expressed in theories and findings about genetic and environmental mechanisms ( Sandra Scarr), brain mechanisms ( Marcel Kinsbourne; Dennis Molfese, Victoria Molfese, Leslie Gill, & Sharon Benshoff; Charles Nelson), relations of physiological functioning in infancy to later development ( Stephen Porges & Jane Doussard-Roosevelt), physiological risk factors in infancy ( David Tupper), adolescence ( Robert McCaffrey & Catherine Forneris), old age ( Robert Keefover & Eric Rankin), methodological and data analytic problems ( John Nesselroade & Jack McArdle), and issues about the validity of neuropsychological assessment ( Michael Franzen & Peter Arnett).
This volume starts with overviews of theoretical and methodological issues ( Scarr; Nesselroade & McArdle; Franzen & Arnett) and continues with chapters dealing with selected portions of the life span -- four chapters on mechanisms in infancy ( Molfese et al.; Nelson; Tupper; Porges & Doussard-Roosevelt), two chapters on mechanisms in childhood and adolescence ( Kinsbourne; McCaffrey & Forneris), and one chapter on mechanisms in adulthood and old age ( Keefover & Rankin). The disproportionate
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