I have been a post-doctoral research scientist at the University of Virginia, Department of Psychology between 2005 and 2007. I started working on my Ph.D. in 2001 at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPI) in Berlin, Germany. In this context, I had the opportunity to work closely together with Prof. Jacqui Smith on exploiting the utility of a systemic-wholistic perspective in studying facets of differential aging. I was deeply influenced by the work of Prof. Paul B. Baltes and colleagues on lifespan principles underlying human ontogeny including the macro-level contexts of developmental change, the evolutionary and ontogenetic foundations of change, and the complex nature of these changes. I received my Ph.D. in 2004 from the Free University in Berlin. After completing my dissertation, I spent one year as a post-doc at the MPI.
As of October 1, 2005, I joined the Faculty of the University of Virginia as a post-doctoral research scientist using a Research Fellowship awarded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and collaborating with Profs. John J. McArdle, Timothy A. Salthouse, and John R. Nesselroade.

My general research interests center on better understanding heterogeneity and differential development in old and advanced old age. My specific research foci include
(1) exploring the usefulness of multiple-indicator information in moving beyond average aging trajectories to an explicit consideration of differential aging of individuals,
(2) identifying cross-domain linkages between cognitive functioning, personality, and social integration as well as its precursors and consequences with an emerging interest in employing recent methodological advances that allow moving from static to dynamic modeling approaches,
(3) differentiating the effects of age-related and death-related processes in late-life development, and
(4) examining short-term intraindividual fluctuations in psychological functioning as an additional tool in the study of lifespan development.

As of July 2007, I joined the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University as an Assistant Professor of Human Development in State College.

I can be reached at gerstorf@psu.edu or via http://www.hhdev.psu.edu/hdfs/faculty/gerstorf.html.

References:

Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Roecke, C., Lindenberger, U., & Smith, J. (in press). Decline in life satisfaction in old age: Longitudinal evidence for links to distance from death. Psychology and Aging.

Gerstorf, D., Siedlecki, K. L., Tucker-Drob, E. M., & Salthouse, T. A. (in press). Executive dysfunctions across adulthood: Measurement properties and correlates of the DEX self-report questionnaire. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.

Hoppmann, C.A., Gerstorf, D., & Luszcz, M. (in press). On the interplay between spousal social activity trajectories in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Aging in the context of cognitive, physical, and emotional resources. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences.

Nesselroade, J. R., Gerstorf, D., Hardy, S. A., & Ram, N. (in press). Idiographic filters for psychological constructs. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives.

Smith, J., & Gerstorf, D. (in press). Do long-lived individuals maintain their capacity for well-being over time? In Z. Yi, D. Poston, & J. Smith (Eds.), Healthy longevity in China: Demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological dimensions. New York, NY: Springer.

Gerstorf, D., Loevden, M., Roecke, C., Smith, J., & Lindenberger, U. (2007). Well-being affects changes in perceptual speed in advanced old age: Longitudinal evidence for a dynamic link. Developmental Psychology, 43, 705-718.

Hoppmann, C. A., Gerstorf, D., Smith, J., & Klumb, P. (2007). Linking goals and behavior: Do domain-specific possible selves translate into daily activities in very old age?. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences, 62B, P104-P111.

Luszczynska, A., Gerstorf, D., Knoll, N., Boehmer, S., & Schwarzer, R. (2007). Patients coping profiles and partners support provision. Psychology and Health,22, 749-764.

Gerstorf, D., Smith, J., & Baltes, P. B. (2006). A systemic-wholistic approach to differential aging: Longitudinal findings from the Berlin Aging Study. Psychology and Aging, 21, 645-663.

Gerstorf, D., Herlitz, A., & Smith, J. (2006). Stability of cognitive sex differences in advanced old age: The role of education and attrition. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences, 61B, P245-P249.

Gerstorf, D., & Lindenberger, U. (2006). Vergessen [Forgetting]. In J. Funke & P. A. Frensch (Eds.), Handbuch der Psychologie [Handbook of Psychology], Vol. Allgemeine Psychologie: Kognition und Handlung [General Psychology: Cognition and Behavior] (pp. 371-378). Goettingen, Germany: Hogrefe.

Raz, N., Lindenberger, U., Rodriguez, K. M., Kennedy, K. M., Head, D., Williamson, A., Dahle, C., Gerstorf, D., Acker, J. D. (2005). Regional brain changes in aging healthy adults: General trends, individual differences, and modifiers. Cerebral Cortex, 15, 1676-1689.

Gerstorf, D. (2004). Heterogeneity and differential aging in old age. A systemic-wholistic approach. Doctoral dissertation. Free University Berlin, http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/2004/342/indexe.html.

Smith, J., & Gerstorf, D. (2004). Aging differently: Potentials and limits. In S. O. Daatland & S. Biggs (Eds.), Ageing and diversity: Multiple pathways and cultural migrations (pp. 13-28). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

Manuscripts under review:

Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Estabrook, R., Schupp, J., Wagner, G. G., & Lindenberger, U. (under review). Life satisfaction shows terminal decline in old age: Longitudinal evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study.

Gerstorf, D., Siedlecki, K. L., Tucker-Drob, E. M., & Salthouse, T. A. (under review). Within-person variability in state anxiety across adulthood: Magnitude and associations with between-person correlates.

Rapp, M. A., Gerstorf, D., Helmchen, H., & Smith, J. (under review). Depression predicts mortality in the young old, but not in the oldest old: Results from the Berlin Aging Study.

Smith, J., Gerstorf, D., & Li, Q. (under review). Psychological resources for well-being among octogenarians, nonagenarians, and centenarians: Differential effects of age and selective mortality.

Curriculum Vitae