Language Comprehension and Production in Normal Aging

Since Cohen introduced the term ‘‘gerolinguistics’’ in 1979, there has been accelerating interest in understanding the nature of language in old age. Searching PsychINFO using the key words ‘‘language and aging’’ generated 9 citations for the decade from 1970 to 1979, 80 for 1980 to 1989, 270 for 1990 to 1999, and 171 for the 5-year period from 2000 to 2004. This surge in interest in language and aging is not surprising. Language is a complex domain that involves the integration of multiple sources of information, including sound, vision, meaning, and intention. Both comprehension and production of language require integration of current inputs and prior knowledge in evolving mental representations. As such, language deals with very highlevel constraint integration and thus can serve as a testing ground for theories of language, as well as theories of cognitive aging (see reviews by Burke, MacKay, & James, 2000; Kemper & Mitzner, 2001; Light, 1988, 1990, 2000; MacKay & Abrams, 1996; Schneider & PichoraFuller, 2000; Wingfield & Stine-Morrow, 2000). Moreover, older adults rate many aspects of their own receptive and expressive language abilities less highly than young adults, and both young and older adults believe that aging is associated with poorer performance in both areas (Ryan et al., 1992). Declines in language processing can impede effective communication, with negative effects on older adults’ social interactions and psychological well-being (Hummert et al., 2004; Kemper & Lacal, 2004; TeschRomer, 1997). This chapter is divided into three major sections that deal with age-related constancy and change in word, sentence, and discourse level processes. Within each section we consider issues related to language perception or comprehension and to language production. This is a structure that is convenient for organizing the material to be covered, but because language is highly interactive, it is not always possible to adhere strictly to this classificatory scheme. Our deviations from it are apparent when they occur. Because our focus is on work that has contributed to framing or resolving theoretical debates about the nature of cognitive aging, we begin with a brief outline of the major cognitive aging