Affiliations: Department of Psychology, University of Geneva,
Geneva, Switzerland
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Gisela Labouvie-Vief, Department of
Psychology, University of Geneva, 40 Blvd du Pont d'Arve, 1205 Geneva,
Switzerland. E-mail: gisela.vief@unige.ch
Abstract: Purpose: Changes in emotion-cognition relationships in later life
comprise a pattern of both vulnerabilities and strengths. To integrate this
pattern of diversity, I propose a neo-Piagetian extension of the concepts of
equilibrium and disequilibrium processes to the relationship beyond cognition
to encompass emotional activation and arousal, and beyond youth to the full
life span. Content: Beginning with a simple, Cannon-type equilibrium
based on the response to increasing deviation from ideal end states of
correcting through tension reduction, a more complex model is outlined that
additionally uses tension amplification aimed at enlargement of the range over
which stability is maintained, i.e., permits processes of developmental
progression. Parallel to cognitive development, emotional development is
described as the emergence of more complex cognitive-affective structures out
of original automatic, biologically based ones. In that process, tension
thresholds are raised, and the functional range over which equilibrium can be
maintained is widened, as higher-order representations become part of the
regulatory network. These progressive movements provide well automated emotion
regulation whose effectiveness increases well into middle and late life. Conclusions: In contrast to development, aging is ultimately characterized by
a lowering of tension thresholds similar to developmental regression. However,
as in the purely intellectual realm, that process is offset by the previous
automatization and crystallization of cognitive-affective schemas becomes
evident only as a result of increasing constraints on fluid capacities, as in
advancing age and/or high load of cognitive effort and/or emotional
activation.
