[Trends in modern international gerontological research. Psychological aspects].

The present paper is based on the analysis of congress reports and gerontological journals and points up new trends in gerontological research. Quantitatively, there was an increase in the number of psycho-gerontological publications. However, relatively seen, they represent an almost unchanged percentage of the contributions to gerontological literature on the whole. Predominant themes in USA and West Germany are discussed. There is, on the one hand, an increasing differentiation and specialization of methodical contribution and, on the other hand, an increasing number of contributions which neglect the methodical aspect. A trend toward practically oriented research is shown, as can be seen in intervention gerontology. Aging is seen as a phanomena with biological, social, and ecological determinants. In conclusion the universality and generality of aging is questioned, the concept of a differential gerontology is proposed and so a greater consideration of the individuality of the aging process is found to be necessary.