Language Comprehension and Production in Normal Aging

Publisher Summary Many of the broad models of cognitive aging are simply too general to account for the diverse range of data. General slowing cannot readily account for processing asymmetries in lexical processing or for differences in outcomes within single tasks. An understanding of the effects of normal aging on language processing requires attention to a complex interaction of processes, from low-level sensory deficits that can affect high-level discourse processes to vice versa. The current models of cognitive aging have typically been applied to only a subset of the phenomena we have discussed at word, sentence, and discourse levels of language comprehension and production. Moreover, the influence of lower level sensory deficits, which can have substantial effects on working memory and higher level comprehension, has generally not played a large role in theory development.