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This study compared the way in which young and elderly adults cooperate to achieve a mutually acceptable reference. Pairs of young and elderly interlocutors performed a repeated referential communication task in which they were asked to converse about arranging complex figures in a particular order. With repetition of the task, both partners, regardless of age, needed fewer words and speaking turns to find mutually acceptable references. However, the older Ss were slower to benefit from the repetition and required more collaborative work to reach an agreement. The elderly were less likely to take previously shared information into account; they produced proportionally less requests for potential elaboration, and they were more likely to be idiosyncratic in their interpretation of the referents.

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The aim of this study was to determine whether verbal knowledge can compensate for the age-related decline in word production during a fluency test. We assessed the performance of 20 young and 20 old subjects in standard letter and semantic fluency tasks over time (T1: 0-30 s vs. T2: 31-60 s). The number of words produced, switching, and clustering components (Troyer et al. Neuropsychology, 11(1): 138-146, 1997) were investigated. Correlations between age and cognitive factors (processing speed, executive functions, and vocabulary level) were analyzed. The results revealed a knowledge compensation mechanism in elderly subjects, but only in letter fluency productions. It only occurred during the second period and was related to an increase in the clustering component and a positive correlation between age and vocabulary level. The differences between letter and semantic fluency performances are discussed in terms of the nature of the nonsemantic and semantic components involved in these tasks.Keywords Aging Á Verbal fluency Á Clustering and switching across time It has often been stated in aging literature that old adults present some declines in cognitive functions. Particularly, numerous studies have demonstrated a reduction in the execution speed of cognitive operations and a deficit in the executive processes needed for temporary information storage and simultaneous performance of several tasks (Barringer et al

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