ABSTRACT
This innovative text emphasizes how communicative processes develop, are maintained, and change throughout the life span. Topics covered include language skills, interpersonal conflict management, socialization, care-giving, and relationship development. Core chapters examine specific communication processes from infancy through childhood and adolescence into middle age and later life.
In its exploration of the role of communication in human development, this volume:
*overviews the theoretical and methodological issues related to studying communication across the life span;
*discusses foundations of communication: cognitive processes and language;
*examines communication in relational contexts and communication competencies;
*considers communication in leisure and the media with relevance to the life-span perspective; and
*presents the implications of the life-span perspective for future research.
This text is intended to be used in life-span communication courses and in interpersonal communication courses with a life-span focus, at an advanced or graduate level. It may also be used in courses on family communication, aging, and language development. It will serve as a supplemental text for courses in psychology, family studies, personal relationships, linguistics, and language studies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |21 pages
Introduction and Overview: Theoretical and Methodological Issues of Communication Across the Life Span
chapter |19 pages
Life-Span Communication: Perspective and Methodology
part |27 pages
Foundations of Communication: Cognitive Processing and Language
chapter |15 pages
Cognitive Processes
chapter |9 pages
Language Development
part |66 pages
Relational Contexts
chapter |21 pages
Family Communication: Childhood Through Adolescence
chapter |20 pages
Family Communication in Later Life
chapter |20 pages
Friendship Throughout the Life Span
part |76 pages
The Changing Nature of the Self and Relational Networks Across the Life Span
chapter |21 pages
Social Roles and Transitions
chapter |26 pages
Interpersonal Conflict Management
chapter |26 pages
Social Support, Health, and Well-Being
part |52 pages
Leisure and Media Use Throughout the Life Span
chapter |14 pages
Leisure and Entertainment Across the Life Span
chapter |17 pages
Mass Media and Children
chapter |18 pages
Mass Media and the Elderly
part |19 pages
Summary: Implications of Life-Span Communication