Referential and inferential production across the lifespan: different patterns and different predictive cognitive
Raphaël Fargier1, Marina Laganaro2
1Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, BCL, Nice, France.
Frontiers in Psychology
|November 29, 2023
Summary
Word production abilities change across the lifespan. While picture naming declines in older adults, naming from definition remains stable, suggesting different cognitive processes are involved in word recall.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Speech production relies on memory and control processes, which change throughout life.
- Lifespan evolution of word production abilities is not well understood.
- Existing research often uses referential tasks like picture naming.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how word production abilities change from childhood to old age.
- To compare lifespan patterns in referential picture naming versus inferential naming from definition.
- To identify cognitive factors influencing age-related changes in word production.
Main Methods:
- Collected accuracy and latency data from 130 participants aged 10-80 years.
- Administered picture naming and naming from definition tasks.
- Assessed vocabulary, memory (digit span), fluency (semantic, phonemic), and processing speed.
- Utilized multivariate adaptive regression splines and regression models.
Main Results:
- Performance increased similarly for both tasks from childhood to young adulthood.
- Older adults (around 60+) showed decreased performance in picture naming, but not in naming from definition.
- Inferential naming from definition revealed different age-related patterns compared to referential picture naming.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive processes like visual-conceptual abilities and lexical prediction may explain differential aging patterns.
- Inferential tasks provide a more stable measure of word production in aging compared to referential tasks.
- Further lifespan research is needed, exploring language production beyond picture naming, especially concerning aging.
Keywords:
aginginferential naming from definitionslanguage productionlifespanreferential picture namingMore Related Videos
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