Aging and Word Retrieval: Personal and Contextual Influences

University Of Colorado, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Word retrieval refers to a series of steps required to successfully produce a desired word. This process feels deceptively simple, and usually goes smoothly, but when it fails, it can be irritating and disruptive to communication. Self-reports and experimental data indicate substantial declines in word retrieval during the normal aging process. However, very little is known about how contextual and individual difference variables affect word retrieval processes and whether such factors similarly affect young and older adult speakers. This project will increase understanding of variables related to the production of words in isolation, as well as speech fluency during discourse production. The transmission deficit hypothesis (MacKay & Burke, 1990) provides the theoretical framework under which novel predictions are tested. The first aim is to examine the effects of targeted personal variables on the relationship between aging and word retrieval. Two non-experimental studies will test for hypothesized relationships between speaker age, measured individual difference factors, and word retrieval indices. The second aim is to determine whether the effects of aging on word retrieval vary following a mindfulness manipulation. Three experiments will manipulate the context in which young and older adults' word retrieval is tested by introducing a brief mindfulness exercise. The proposed research is significant in that it tests word retrieval, an everyday task that becomes more difficult and frustrating with age. Results regarding the effects of non-lexical factors on word retrieval in young and older adults will critically shape theory development. The research is designed to incorporate undergraduate and masters-level student research assistants so that they gain meaningful experience to foster their interest in pursuing careers in science. The ultimate applied goal of the research is to reduce word retrieval difficulty, possibly through widespread implementation of strategies to minimize negative contextual and individual-difference influences on word retrieval.