Janet Belsky

I've been studying for a "psychology of aging" exam, & used Dr.Belsky's book to help with my studying: it proved to be of great help, especially because the whole book is written in a narrative, conversational way, which helps the reader. All the major developments in aging are contained in the book: historical, basic information on gerontology & geropsychology, lots of "life-span approach" information, & all that is needed to understand how the (relatively new) field of gerontology came to expand & become a field that is now growing at a quick pace.

There's also a lot of up-to-date information, all the new findings & ideas in the field, which help to see how gerontology has started to change the aging process: lots of these changes are described in the book, things like new ways of measuring cognitive skills, the emotional changes in the older population, & the dying process & how to help make it more humane. Needless to say, this textbook contains many "aging in process" vignettes, which graphically describe real problems & real situations of real people...there are also many figures & graphs, which help the student understand the research & put it in context. All in all, a very helpful textbook.… (mer)