The structure of verbal abilities in young and older adults

Susan Kemper, Aaron Sumner
2001 Psychology and Aging  
Four measures of verbal ability derived from language sample analysis as well as 11 other 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 11 vocabulary, fluency, and span measures for each age group. Then an "extension" analysis was performed using structural modeling techniques to determine how the language samples measures were related to the other
more » ... . One language sample 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 affecting sentence length, verbal fluency, and reading speed. . (2001). The structure of verbal abilities in young and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 16, 312-322. Publisher's official version: http://psycnet.apa.org/
doi:10.1037//0882-7974.16.2.312 pmid:11405318 fatcat:4h6sr6yoifhpzjkscuoxjbnhva