The structure of verbal abilities in young and older adults
Issue Date
2001-06Author
Kemper, Susan
Sumner, Aaron
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Four language sample measures as well as measures of vocabulary, verbal fluency, and memory span were obtained from a sample of young adults and a sample of older adults. Factor analysis was used to analyze the structure of the vocabulary, fluency, and span measures for each age group. Then an "extension" analysis was performed by using structural modeling techniques to determine how the language sample measures were related to the other measures. The measure of grammatical complexity was associated with measures of working memory including reading span and digit span. Two measures, sentence length in words and a measure of lexical diversity, were associated with the vocabulary measures. The fourth measure, propositional density, was associated with the fluency measures as a measure of processing efficiency. The structure of verbal abilities in young and older adults is somewhat different, suggesting age differences in processing efficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
Description
This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
Collections
Citation
Kemper, S. & Sumner, A. (2001). The structure of verbal abilities in young and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 16, 312-322. http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0882-7974.16.2.312
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.