A West Virginia University psychologist is seeking married couples in their golden years to participate in a study of older adultseveryday lives.

The Daily Life Study by Jennifer Margrett will assess how couples 65 and older perform daily tasks and explore strategies for maintaining that level of performance. The study will also examine factors related to everyday life, including personality, health and social support.

The focus of the research is on the”give and take”developed between long-term married couples over the years, said Margrett, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology.

Participants will attend two group sessions in which they will be asked to provide written and oral responses to questions about everyday life, she explained. The sessions will last about 2.5 hours, and participants will receive $15 per session.

Results of the study will add to the understanding of everyday functioning in older adulthood and contribute to the well-being of future generations of senior citizens, Margrett added.

Margrett, who came to WVU in 2001, specializes in issues related to adulthood and aging. She is a faculty member in the departments doctoral program in life-span developmental psychology and teaches a graduate-level seminar on long-term romantic relationships. She researches cognitive development and intervention in adulthood and older age, collaborative learning and the social context of acquiring knowledge, long-term married couples, and everyday problem-solving.

She earned her doctorate in life-span developmental psychology from Wayne State University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship focusing on cognitive aging at The Pennsylvania State University.

To sign up, or for more information on the Daily Life Study, contact Margrett at 304-293-2001, ext. 31643.