In sum, the papers in this Special Section illustrate how investigations of the aging person as embedded in a social context enrich our understanding of what it means to age successfully. The theoretical and empirical work reported in this issue highlight numerous issues, including: appropriate and accurate assessment of cognition in later life; the correpsondence (and lack thereof) of objective and subjective experiences of everyday cognittive collaboration; collaborator characteristics and (sometimes competing) interests of collaborators; and alteractions in collaboration over time due to individual and collaborator network member changes. The papers also suggest paths to be explored in future research. For instance, whereas existing research on later-life collaborative cognition often focuses on optimising and compensatory functions of collaboration, the Special Section papers suggest that other developmental functions should also be considered. The need to address the conditions associated with both collaborative benefits and losses is also indicated by the papers. Taken together, the papers in this Special Section highlight the importance of considering collaborative processes and products from older adults' perspectives. Investigating subjective perceptions of ability and collaborative processes, in combination with objective assessments, may yield an enriched understanding of later-life cognitive collaboration. Finally, addressing the individual, interpersonal, and domain-specific aspects of everday collaborative cognition is necessary to better understand the conditions under which optimal outcomes occur. Such investigations will move the field closer to an understanding of the social foundations of cognition across the life span.
