Beyond frequency: Predicting auditory word recognition in normal elderly adults

Baumgaertner, Annette; Tompkins, Connie A. · 1998 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1080/02687039808249561

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Summary

This study investigates the relative contributions of word frequency, age of acquisition (AOA), and familiarity to auditory word recognition in normal elderly adults. While word frequency is a well-established predictor of lexical processing speed, the mechanisms underlying its effects remain debated, and its relationship with other lexical variables like AOA and familiarity is not fully understood, particularly in the auditory modality. The research aims to determine whether AOA and familiarity provide unique predictive power for reaction times in a lexical decision task after accounting for word frequency, addressing gaps in psycholinguistic literature that has predominantly focused on visual tasks. The researchers recruited 29 normal older adults (mean age 63.8 years) who passed hearing screenings and cognitive assessments. Participants performed a speeded auditory lexical decision task, responding to 50 experimental two-syllable words that varied in frequency, AOA, and familiarity. Stimuli were carefully selected to control for phonological neighborhood size and frequency, ensuring these factors did not confound the results. AOA and familiarity ratings were generated by raters matched to the subject population in age and education, rather than relying solely on existing norms from younger populations. Reaction times were measured from word onset, and median reaction times per word served as the criterion variable. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the variance explained by each predictor, entering word frequency first to isolate the unique contributions of AOA and familiarity. The results demonstrated that word frequency significantly predicted reaction times, explaining 21% of the variance. Crucially, AOA emerged as a strong, independent predictor, adding significant explanatory power to the model even after frequency and familiarity were accounted for. In contrast, familiarity did not contribute significantly to predicting reaction times once frequency was controlled. The study also found a high correlation (0.94) between the AOA ratings generated by the older adult raters and existing norms from college students, suggesting that published AOA data are valid and generalizable across age groups. These findings indicate that AOA is a robust predictor of auditory lexical access in older adults, operating partially independently of word frequency. This challenges the notion that frequency alone suffices to explain lexical processing variance and supports theoretical models proposing distinct roles for frequency and AOA. The results have significant implications for clinical aphasiology, suggesting that stimulus selection for assessment and treatment of language disorders should account for AOA, not just frequency. Furthermore, the validity of existing AOA norms implies that clinicians and researchers may not need to generate new ratings for older populations, facilitating more standardized experimental designs in speech-language pathology.

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• age related perceptual decline