Foreword; Preface; 1. Psychological perspectives on successful aging: the model of selective optimization with compensation; 2. Medical perspectives upon successful aging; 3. Successful aging in a post-retired society; 4. The optimization of cognitive functioning in old age: predictions based on cohort-sequential and longitudinal data; 5. The optimization of episodic remembering in old age; 6. Peak performance and age: an examination of peak performance in sports; 7. Personal control over development and quality of life perspectives in adulthood; 8. Successful mastery of bereavement and widowhood: a life-course perspective; 9. The Bonn longitudinal study of aging: coping, life adjustment, and life satisfaction; 10. Risk and protective factors in the transition to young adulthood; 11. Avoiding negative life outcomes: evidence from a forty-five year study; 12. Developing behavioural genetics and successful aging; Name index; Subject index.