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Updated: Jul 3, 2026
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An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing
Published on: October 25, 2019
Adult age differences in attention to semantic context
Linda K Langley1, Alyson L Saville, Nora D Gayzur
1Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105, USA. linda.langley@ndsu.edu
Summary
Older adults can effectively use semantic context to anticipate information, similar to younger adults. While controlled expectancies may show a timing delay with aging, the ability to represent context remains intact.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience of Aging
Background:
- Attention to semantic context is crucial for cognitive processing.
- Understanding age-related differences in cognitive functions like attention is vital.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine age differences in how younger and older adults utilize semantic context.
- To investigate the timing of expectancy effects in relation to semantic priming across age groups.
Main Methods:
- A semantic priming task was administered to younger (18-29 years) and older adults (60-79 years).
- Experiments focused on reaction time performance to assess the use of contextual probability and semantic relatedness.
Main Results:
- Both age groups successfully used semantic context to anticipate target categories.
- Older adults showed a delayed reflection of target expectancies in reaction times, particularly when targets were unrelated.
- The time course of priming effects was similar for both age groups when targets were expected to be related.
Conclusions:
- Older adults can effectively utilize semantic context and probability information for anticipation.
- Aging may involve a delay in expressing controlled expectancies, not a decline in representing contextual information.
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