Abstract
In Part I, we presented a dialectical constructivist account of the role of dynamic syntheses in learning and the modes of abstraction and how these relate to processes of adult learning. Our intent was to provide an explanation and integration of well-known research findings regarding three important issues: (1) the decline of mental effort with aging; (2) the contrasting findings about post-formal competencies and wisdom in later years; and (3) the ways in which these findings can be related to the often prescriptive accounts of adult education theorists, who discuss the role of self-directedness in adult learning. In Part II, we now turn to discuss a process-analytic account of the ego and the will in order to explain how the various modes of abstraction are employed in adult learning and how self-directedness can be brought about. We then conclude with a description of the types of instruction based on the ideas about modes of learning and abstraction that were discussed in the two papers.
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Pascual-Leone, J., Irwin, R.R. Noncognitive factors in high-road/low-road learning: II. The will, the self, and modes of instruction in adulthood. J Adult Dev 1, 153–168 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02260091
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02260091