On the History of Psychological Gerontology.

The report consists of 3 parts: (1) a quantitative analysis of the history of psychological gerontology based upon the reconstructed flow of written information in reference networks; (2) a supplement to this analysis which focuses especially on "underdeveloped" areas not represented in the networks; and (3) a wide-ranging inquiry into contemporary concepts of research and theory, communication and education and, more generally, our concept of man and society. The author's search uncovers an enormous amount of wasted research effort and a concurrent lack of investigations of significant issues. As a result, he recommends: (l) a shift in emphasis from accumulation to integration in data collection; (2) implementing this shift through an overhaul of our system of higher education ; (3) new applications of theories and techniques aimed at coping with information overload such as that which exists in psychological gerontology; and (4) a reformulated model of man, based on his dialectic, developmental interdependence with the changing society. In essence, the author feels that higher educational competitiveness has resulted in information overloads which support one or another fragmented models of man and society. (Author/TL)