ERIC Number: EJ747079
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 35
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0364-0213
EISSN: N/A
Aging and the Use of Context in Ambiguity Resolution: Complex Changes from Simple Slowing
Dagerman, Karen Stevens; MacDonald, Maryellen C.; Harm, Michael W.
Cognitive Science, v30 n2 p311-345 2006
Older and younger adults' abilities to use context information rapidly during ambiguity resolution were investigated. In Experiments 1 and 2, younger and older adults heard ambiguous words (e.g., fires) in sentences where the preceding context supported either the less frequent or more frequent meaning of the word. Both age groups showed good context use in offline tasks, but only young adults demonstrated rapid use of context in cross-modal naming. A 3rd experiment demonstrated that younger and older adults had similar knowledge about the contexts used in Experiments 1 and 2. The experiment results were simulated in 2 computational models in which different patterns of context use were shown to emerge from varying a single speed parameter. These results suggest that age-related changes in processing efficiency can modulate context use during language comprehension.
Descriptors: Young Adults, Older Adults, Sentences, Simulation, Efficiency, Aging (Individuals), Context Effect, Semantics, Figurative Language, Age Differences, Models, Task Analysis, Language Processing
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 10 Industrial Avenue, Mahwah, NJ 07430. Tel: 800-926-6579; Tel: 201-258-2200; Fax: 201-236-0072; e-mail: journals@erlbaum.com; Web site: https://www.erlbaum.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A