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Changes in processing adverbial conjuncts throughout adulthood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Ronald L. Bloom ,
Jeanne Mullin  and
Peter J. Paternostro
Ronald L. Bloom*
Affiliation:
Hofstra University
Peter J. Paternostro
Affiliation:
St. Mary's Children's Hospital
*
Ronald L. Bloom, 110 Hofstra University, Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, Davision Hall, Hempstead, NY 11550
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Abstract

This study examines the use and understanding of concordant (e.g., consequently, moreover) and discordant (e.g., rather, contrastively) adverbial conjuncts in the later part of the life span. The participants, 75 neurologically healthy young (mean age 21.8), middle-aged (mean age 51.7), and elderly (mean age 73.1) adults, were examined using procedures by Nippold, Schwarz, and Undlin (1992). Groups were matched for education level. The results indicate a significant decline in processing adverbial conjuncts in the elderly. Discordant adverbial conjuncts especially challenged the linguistic processing abilities of the elderly subjects. The age- related decline in processing adverbial conjuncts.appears to be a specific deficit in linguistic processing that is independent of problems in memory or the effects of exposure to sophisticated language forms.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 105 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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