The Center for Lifespan Psychology

Founded in 1981 by the late Paul B. Baltes, the Center for Lifespan Psychology (LIP) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development has helped to establish lifespan psychology as a distinct conceptual approach within developmental psychology. Since 2004, the Center has extended its research program into developmental behavioral neuroscience. Work at the Center is guided by three propositions:

to study lifespan changes in behavior as interactions among maturation, learning, and senescence;
to develop theories and methods that integrate empirical evidence across domains of functioning, timescales, as well as behavioral and neural levels of analysis;
to identify mechanisms of development by exploring age-graded differences in plasticity.

The Center continues to pay special attention to the age periods of late adulthood and old age, which offer unique opportunities for innovation, both in theory and practice. At the same time, it has continuously increased its research on behavioral development during earlier periods of life.

Research Report on the Center for Lifespan Psychology

A Philosopher of the Enlightenment Era: Tetens

"But ... its eminent modifiability, and its predisposition to self-initiated action, may it develop little or much, and may it differ in amount between different individuals, is among the immutable features of humankind, which can be found whereever humans exist."

Johann Nicolaus Tetens (1736-1807), philosopher of the Enlightenment Era

The Center's Projects

The Center for Lifespan Psychology's eight projects follow its guiding propositions and examine different facets of human development across the lifespan. Further information is available under Projects.

MPS-UCL Initiative

COMPUTATIONAL PSYCHIATRY AND AGING RESEARCH

In early 2011, scientists from the Max Planck Society (MPS) and University College London (UCL) launched an initiative on the development and application of computational methods that reorganize and improve our understanding of mental illness and behavioral aging.

Further information

ISSBD-JF Mentored Fellowship Program for Early Career Scholars

In April 2011, the Jacobs Foundation approved funding the Mentored Fellowship Program for Early Career Scholars. ISSBD and the Jacobs Foundation share an interest in developing the careers of young scholars from all parts of the world, especially from poorer countries, who may be more likely to advance research on children and youth.

In the meantime the 10 fellowships have been awarded.
Jacobs-ISSBD Fellowship Program

Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group

In 2006 Martin Lövdén received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's Sofja Kovalevskaja Prize. Financed by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, the one million Euro Award enables young scientists from outside Germany to finance their own research groups at a German university or other research institution of their choice. The funding period of the Award extended over 4 years (2007–2010).

Information on the Research Group's activities and Sofja Kovalevskaja

Contact

Director:

Ulman Lindenberger

seklindenberger [at] mpib-berlin [dot] mpg [dot] de

Leibniz Prize

Ulman Lindenberger received Germany's largest research award, the Leibniz Prize 2010!

Press release

New Publication

Lindenberger, U., Oertzen, T. von, Ghisletta, P., & Hertzog, C. (2011). Cross-sectional age variance extraction: What's change got to do with it? Psychology and Aging, 26, 34–47. doi: 10.1037/a0020525