Scott Hofer

Contact Information

Research Information

Research Description

Dr. Hofer's research is on the identification and explanation of individual differences in developmental and aging-related processes and involves the analysis of existing longitudinal studies, new data collection efforts using intensive measurement designs, and developments in research methodology focused on measurement and analysis of change.

Dr. Hofer co-directs an international collaborative network for the Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Aging (IALSA) with focus on understanding cognitive change in the context of health, personality, demographic and psychosocial influences. The IALSA research network is a collaborative research infrastructure for coordinated interdisciplinary, cross-national research aimed at replicating and extending research findings from a within-person perspective. The network is currently comprised of over 25 longitudinal studies on aging, spanning eight countries, with a combined sample size of approximately 70,000 individuals. These studies continue to provide important knowledge and permit unprecedented opportunities for describing and explaining developmental and aging-related changes and cross-process dynamics, and for identifying influential factors associated with early and late life outcomes.

Interdisciplinary Research

The Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Aging (IALSA) research network involves investigators from medicine, epidemiology, psychology, sociology, and demography.

Health Related Research

Future research will require intensive measurements of functioning over long periods of time in order to permit sensitive “prospective” detection of change from an individual’s normative performance. The major focus of our research using intensive measurement designs is to facilitate early detection and permit targeted intervention of pathological cognitive aging. Intensive measurement designs permit the control for within-person variation and practice effects and provides greater power for the detection of change from within-person baseline. We have developed and implemented a feasible protocol and measurement battery for sustained assessment within home or institutional settings.

Research Keywords

International Involvement

International Research

Dr. Hofer co-directs an international research network for the Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies on Aging (IALSA) which focuses on understanding within-person change in cognition and personality in the context of aging and health-related change. This international collaborative network is based on a coordinated analysis approach that enables the efficient examination of results across studies in ways that maximize comparability. He also an investigator on research networks on aging in Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Countries lived/worked in

United States of America; United Kingdom