Attention and Off-Topic Speech in the Recounts of Middle-Age and Elderly Adults: A Pilot Investigation

PURPOSE: The discourse of healthy older adults is commonly described as being lengthy and off-topic and is thought to be associated with a general cognitive decline that accompanies healthy aging. The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate the overall decline in attention associated with healthy aging and its relationship to instances of off-topic speech (OTS). METHOD: Thirty cognitively healthy adults divided into 5 age cohorts (40-80) completed cognitive measures of attention and several discourse tasks that included recounting personal events. RESULTS: Cohorts differed significantly with respect to the measures of attention. However, no significant differences in the incidence of OTS were detected between the cohorts. Attention and the incidence of OTS were not significantly correlated within any of the cohorts. CONCLUSION: No significant differences in the incidence of OTS and its relation to attention measures were found. However, the relationship between age-related declines in attention and increased OTS approached significance, suggesting the need for further study.