Disfluency across the lifespan: an individual differences investigation
Paul E Engelhardt1, Ioanna Markostamou2
1School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
Summary
Younger adults exhibit more speech disfluencies like "ums" but fewer repetitions. Cognitive factors such as inhibition and working memory influence disfluency production in adults.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Speech Production
Background:
- Conflicting findings exist regarding age-related differences in speech fluency.
- Understanding cognitive correlates of disfluency is crucial for models of language production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related speech fluency differences.
- To explore the relationship between cognitive individual differences and speech disfluency.
Main Methods:
- 154 adults completed a story re-telling task.
- A battery of cognitive measures assessed executive functions.
- Speech disfluencies (e.g., 'ums', repetitions) were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Younger adults produced more 'ums' and fewer repetitions than older adults.
- Inhibition and set shifting correlated with repetition frequency.
- Inhibition and working memory correlated with 'uh' frequency.
Conclusions:
- Results clarify mixed findings on age and disfluency.
- Cognitive factors, particularly executive functions, are linked to disfluency.
- Findings support theories like the Inhibition Deficit Hypothesis in aging speech.
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