Spring 2016 Wisdom Course Study Questions
Return to Wisdom
12/13 JAN
19/20 JAN
1. Using the vocabulary introduced by Hall in Ch. 1 and the majors "figures and movements" what can we infer about the major approaches human cultures have taken to wisdom?
2. What sort of case can be made for the "irreality of wisdom" - ways of doubting or questioning the reality of wisdom?
3. Is wisdom gendered? Was wisdom gendered?
26/27 JAN
1. Summarize Gisela Labouvie-Vief's distinction between objective and organismic thought, especially her view that "organismic" thought is not just subjectivism. How does she apply this to wisdom? Do you agree or disagree?
2. Evaluate the "older is wiser" thesis. Why do we associate wisdom with age and in what ways should we qualify this association?
3. How does Clayton and Birren's MDS study help us theorize the main components of a construct of wisdom? What does it tell us about the "older is wiser" thesis?
4. How does Ardelt's research help us think about the relationship between wisdom, objective life conditions, and life satisfaction?
5. How does Cartensen's "time horizon" research help us think about the "older is wiser" thesis and the role of time perception in wisdom?
2/3 FEB
1. Drawing on Clayton and Birren, add some detail to your picture of the history of wisdom.
2. What are some of the main constructs for Wisdom research, according to Clayton and Birren?
3. How does Hall use the career of Vivian Clayton to illustrate the emergence of wisdom in psychological research literature?
4. Given the evidence from Hall Ch. 4 and last week, how do you theorize the role of emotional regulation? Is it inherently linked to aging and inappropriate to cultivate in youth or is it a trainable capacity, as reasonable a goal for a 25 year old as for a 65 year old?
9/10 FEB
1. How does the Baltes construct for wisdom theorize intelligence, model knowledge in wisdom and related factors. What are its strengths? How might it be criticized?
2. What role do heuristics play in the cultivation of wisdom? How does SOC theory in particular present itself as a theory with a wisdom-related heuristic?
3. Could you become wiser in the Baltes sense (score well on a Baltes think aloud) without become any different as a person? Should wisdom change you or is it primarily as set of skills and heuristics that you apply to problems?
