Word retrieval refers to a series of steps required to successfully produce a desired word. This process feels deceptively simple, and usually goes smoothly, but when it fails, it can be irritating and disruptive to communication. Self-reports and experimental data indicate substantial declines in word retrieval during the normal aging process. However, very little is known about how contextual and individual difference variables affect word retrieval processes and whether such factors similarly affect young and older adult speakers. This project will increase understanding of variables related to the production of words in isolation, as well as speech fluency during discourse production. The transmission deficit hypothesis (MacKay & Burke, 1990) provides the theoretical framework under which novel predictions are tested.
The first aim i s to examine the effects of targeted personal variables on the relationship between aging and word retrieval. Two non-experimental studies will test for hypothesized relationships between speaker age, measured individual difference factors, and word retrieval indices.
The second aim i s to determine whether the effects of aging on word retrieval vary following a mindfulness manipulation. Three experiments will manipulate the context in which young and older adults' word retrieval is tested by introducing a brief mindfulness exercise. The proposed research is significant in that it tests word retrieval, an everyday task that becomes more difficult and frustrating with age. Results regarding the effects of non-lexical factors on word retrieval in young and older adults will critically shape theory development. The research is designed to incorporate undergraduate and masters-level student research assistants so that they gain meaningful experience to foster their interest in pursuing careers in science. The ultimate applied goal of the research is to reduce word retrieval difficulty, possibly through widespread implementation of strategies to minimize negative contextual and individual-difference influences on word retrieval.
The proposed research tests how personal and contextual factors affect the degree of age-related decline in word retrieval processes. Increased understanding of this salient and worrisome change will help allay healthy aging adults' concerns about impeding dementia when they experience difficulty in word retrieval, an important consideration because anxiety about word retrieval problems could create conditions that further impair the process. Additionally, identification of a brief mindfulness intervention that improves single-word retrieval and discourse fluency will lead to practical applications to improve communication.
