Linguistic Redundancy and Its Effects on Younger and Older Adults' Real-Time Comprehension and Memory

Autor/inn/en	Saryazdi, Raheleh; Nuque, Joanne; Chambers, Craig G.
Titel	Linguistic Redundancy and Its Effects on Younger and Older Adults' Real-Time Comprehension and Memory
Quelle	In: Cognitive Science, 46 (2022) 4, (35 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1551-6709
DOI	10.1111/cogs.13123
Schlagwörter	Memory; Language Processing; Age Differences; Psycholinguistics; Eye Movements; Task Analysis; Robotics; Form Classes (Languages); Attention; Color; Decision Making; Context Effect; Visual Stimuli; Older Adults; Young Adults + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Gedächtnis; Sprachverarbeitung; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Psycholinguistik; Augenbewegung; Aufgabenanalyse; Robotertechnik; Analytischer Sprachbau; Aufmerksamkeit; Colour; Farbbezeichnung; Farbe; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Älterer Erwachsener; Young adult; Junger Erwachsener
Abstract	Redundant modifiers can facilitate referential interpretation by narrowing attention to intended referents. This is intriguing because, on traditional accounts, redundancy should impair comprehension. Little is known, however, about the effects of redundancy on older adults' comprehension. Older adults may show different patterns due to age-related decline (e.g., processing speed and memory) or their greater proclivity for linguistic redundancy, as suggested in language production studies. The present study explores the effects of linguistic redundancy on younger and older listeners' incremental referential processing, judgments of informativity, and downstream memory performance. In an eye tracking task, gaze was monitored as listeners followed instructions from a social robot referring to a unique object within a multi-object display. Critical trials were varied in terms of modifier type ("…closed/purple/[NONE] umbrella") and whether displays contained another object matching target properties (closed purple notebook), making modifiers less effective at narrowing attention. Relative to unmodified descriptions, redundant color modifiers facilitated comprehension, particularly when they narrowed attention to a single referent. Descriptions with redundant state modifiers always impaired real-time comprehension. In contrast, memory measures showed faster recognition of objects previously described with redundant state modifiers. Although color and state descriptions had different effects on referential processing and memory, informativity judgments showed participants perceived them as informationally redundant to the same extent relative to unmodified descriptions. Importantly, the patterns did not differ by listener age. Together, the results show that the effects of linguistic redundancy are stable across adulthood but vary as a function of modifier type, visual context, and the measured phenomenon. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01