The conceptual framework of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) is a valuable meta-theoretical tool for integrating research on life span development across functional domains, life periods, and levels of analysis. Its explicit focus on selection, optimization, and compensation as a three key mechanism of developmental resource generation and allocation effectively counteracts the fragmentation of knowledge that characterizes much of the work in child development and aging. This chapter reviews empirical findings on adaptive resource allocation in adulthood and old age, primarily from a SOC perspective. Special emphasis is given to two research domains: motivation-volition, and cognitive-sensorimotor functioning. The development, expression, and function of diverse developmental phenomena such as goal selection, pursuit, and performance in cognitive-sensorimotor dual tasks can be regarded as specific implementations of the component processes of selection, optimization, or compensation. New research directions within the SOC framework are also delineated.