Three models of adult development

Ontogenetic and sociogenic models of adult psychological development are compared and contrasted with a third approach - the liberative - defined by an increasing freedom from biological and social determinism. Some ontogenetic theories have much in common with the liberative approach, while the sociogenic model is compatible with the liberative argument that the adult life course is not accurately describable in terms of universally fixed stages. The liberative approach to development in our view offers the greatest promise for a universal theory of adult development. The liberative approach can complement reductionist approaches in psychology by introducing a more mindful psychology, one guided by an overarching developmental perspective that features conscious development as an explanation for behavioral change. Adult development differs from child development in an obvious way - it is not dependent on physical maturation. Of course, aging is associated with physical change, and much of what is studied under the rubric of adult development is age-related decline in areas such as cognitive functioning. Lately, it has been suggested that the inevitability of these declines has been greatly exaggerated [Shimamura et al., 1995]. However, we intend to address adult development from a psychological, not a biological, point of view. Questions to be addressed include the kinds of psychological and behavioral changes that can be construed as development. Different wisdom traditions, including western Platonism and eastern Taoism, place self-knowledge at the center of adult development. What does self-knowledge confer that is not available in its absence?