Pronoun Reference and Aging

Helen J. Kahn; Robert E. Till

doi:10.1080/87565649109540505

Pronoun Reference and Aging

Helen J. Kahn, Robert E. Till

Psychological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated whether an age-related deficit occurs for pronoun-reference resolution. Young (ages 19-31) and older (ages 60-74) adults read stories varying in length and selected the antecedent noun for sentences that contained information that was expected, neutral, or unexpected with respect to prior knowledge. The qualitative factor (Expectedness) produced an age-related effect for accuracy of noun choice but the quantitative factor (Memory Load or the distance between noun and pronoun) was equivalent for all subjects. Additionally, older adults took longer to read the text than the young, although there was no interaction with age. It is argued that expectedness of information may be more relevant for pronoun-reference processing rather than memory load alone in older adult readers.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	459-475
Number of pages	17
Journal	Developmental Neuropsychology
Volume	7
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/87565649109540505
State	Published - Jan 1 1991

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Developmental and Educational Psychology

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10.1080/87565649109540505

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title = "Pronoun Reference and Aging",

abstract = "We investigated whether an age-related deficit occurs for pronoun-reference resolution. Young (ages 19-31) and older (ages 60-74) adults read stories varying in length and selected the antecedent noun for sentences that contained information that was expected, neutral, or unexpected with respect to prior knowledge. The qualitative factor (Expectedness) produced an age-related effect for accuracy of noun choice but the quantitative factor (Memory Load or the distance between noun and pronoun) was equivalent for all subjects. Additionally, older adults took longer to read the text than the young, although there was no interaction with age. It is argued that expectedness of information may be more relevant for pronoun-reference processing rather than memory load alone in older adult readers.",

author = "Kahn, {Helen J.} and Till, {Robert E.}",

note = "Funding Information: Preparation of this article was supported by Fonds de la recherche en sant{\'e} du Qu{\'e}bec while the first author was a postdoctoral fellow at the La-boratoire Th{\'e}ophile Alajouanine, Centre hospitalier C{\^o}te-des-Neiges, Mon-tr{\'e}al (Qu{\'e}bec). Funding Information: Support for this article was provided by Sigma Xi, the Research Society, and a doctoral research grant from the University of North Dakota Graduate School.",

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AU - Till, Robert E.

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N2 - We investigated whether an age-related deficit occurs for pronoun-reference resolution. Young (ages 19-31) and older (ages 60-74) adults read stories varying in length and selected the antecedent noun for sentences that contained information that was expected, neutral, or unexpected with respect to prior knowledge. The qualitative factor (Expectedness) produced an age-related effect for accuracy of noun choice but the quantitative factor (Memory Load or the distance between noun and pronoun) was equivalent for all subjects. Additionally, older adults took longer to read the text than the young, although there was no interaction with age. It is argued that expectedness of information may be more relevant for pronoun-reference processing rather than memory load alone in older adult readers.

AB - We investigated whether an age-related deficit occurs for pronoun-reference resolution. Young (ages 19-31) and older (ages 60-74) adults read stories varying in length and selected the antecedent noun for sentences that contained information that was expected, neutral, or unexpected with respect to prior knowledge. The qualitative factor (Expectedness) produced an age-related effect for accuracy of noun choice but the quantitative factor (Memory Load or the distance between noun and pronoun) was equivalent for all subjects. Additionally, older adults took longer to read the text than the young, although there was no interaction with age. It is argued that expectedness of information may be more relevant for pronoun-reference processing rather than memory load alone in older adult readers.

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Pronoun Reference and Aging

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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