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Updated: Apr 27, 2026
04:30
An Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Ageing on Sentence Processing
Published on: October 25, 2019
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Discourse compression of elderly adults in a dyadic context
Lauren L Saling1, Kathryn Woodcock1, Michael M Saling2
1School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. lsaling@csu.edu.au.
Summary
Older adults' discourse efficiency improved when retelling stories with younger partners, but not with other older adults. Interaction with younger individuals enhances narrative coherence and conciseness in the elderly.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Gerontology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Elderly adults often exhibit reduced discourse efficiency and coherence compared to younger individuals.
- Repetition in discourse typically enhances conciseness and coherence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if discourse efficiency and quality improve with story retelling in a dialogic context among elderly adults.
- To compare the effects of interacting with younger versus older partners on elderly adults' discourse production.
Main Methods:
- Thirty elderly adults (65-91 years) were paired with either an elderly adult (EE group) or a young adult (EY group).
- Participants collaboratively created stories from cartoon frames, retelling them three times.
- Narrative duration, word count, fluency, and cohesion were analyzed using a compression index.
Main Results:
- The EY group showed significantly higher compression indices for fluency and duration compared to the EE group.
- Elderly adults interacting with younger partners produced more coherent discourse with repetition.
- Discourse cohesion did not improve with retelling for elderly adults paired with other elderly adults.
Conclusions:
- A younger conversational partner serves as a model for compressed and coherent discourse for older adults.
- Engaging in dialogue with younger adults may enhance elderly individuals' ability to use communication platforms requiring concise messaging, such as social media.
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