ABSTRACT
Young and elderly adults heard recorded words that increased in word-onset duration ("gated" words). Without context, both age groups could recognize spoken words after hearing only 50% to 60% of word onset information. When these words were embedded in sentence contexts, subjects required only 20% to 30% of word onset for recognition. An analysis of pre-recognition responses was used to examine use of linguistic context by both age groups to produce correct word recognition in the absence of a complete, or completely processed, acoustic input.
Subject(s)
Aging/psychology , Language , Mental Recall , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Linguistics , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Young and elderly adults were compared for recall performance on simple digit and word spans (traditional tests of primary memory), versus a "loaded" auditory word span test designed to emphasize working memory capacity. Although digit spans were identical for the two age groups, there were small but significant age differences in word span, and even larger differences in working memory performance. An analysis of correlations between span measures and verbal ability scores supported the position that working memory loading represents a special problem for the elderly.