Current Research

Understanding Cognitive Functioning Throughout the Lifespan

Researchers associated with the Adult Development Lab at North Carolina State University are conducting a variety of studies that are focused on understanding cognitive functioning-broadly defined-throughout the adult lifespan.

Research Goals

The goals of this research are to chart normative changes in such functioning associated with aging and to identify the bases for such changes. In our research, we adopt a lifespan perspective and view adult development and aging as multifaceted and multidirectional. One major goal in our work is to document aging-related decrements in functioning. Consistent with the lifespan perspective, however, we also have interests in understanding how individuals maintain their functioning in the face of declining abilities and in identifying aspects of functioning that may improve with age.

Categories of Research

Current research in our lab falls under three broad categories: