Language decline across the life span: Findings from the nun study.

Abstract

The present study examines language samples from the Nun Study. Measures of grammatical complexity and idea density were obtained from autobiographies written over a 60-year span. Participants who had met criteria for dementia were contrasted with those who did not. Grammatical complexity initially averaged 4.78 (on a 0-to-7-point scale) for participants who did not meet criteria for dementia and declined .04 units per year; grammatical complexity for participants who met criteria for dementia initially averaged 3.86 and declined .03 units per year. Idea density averaged 5.35 propositions per 10 words initially for participants who did not meet criteria for dementia and declined an average of .03 units per year, whereas idea density averaged 4.34 propositions per 10 words initially for participants who met criteria for dementia and declined .02 units per year. Adult experiences, in general, did not moderate these declines.

Detecting Dementia through Retrospective Analysis of Routine Blog Posts by Bloggers with Dementia

“…Early signs of dementia can be detected through analysis of writing samples (Le et al, 2011;Riley et al, 2005;Kemper et al, 2001). In the "Nun Study" researchers analyzed autobiographies written in the US by members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame between 1931-1996.…”

Cognitive Predictors of Everyday Functioning in Older Adults: Results From the ACTIVE Cognitive Intervention Trial

“…Few studies have examined prospective relationships between multiple cognitive domains and current (as well as changes in) everyday functioning (but see Kemper, Greiner, Marquis, Prenovost, & Mitzner, 2001;Sliwinski et al, 2006). Cross-study comparisons are challenged by the constellation of cognitive tests used to represent cognitive domains that vary in their psychometric properties.…”

Recuerdo inmediato de oraciones de sintaxis compleja en adultos jóvenes y mayores

“…Aunque hay considerable evidencia, proveniente tanto de investigación longitudinal como estratificada, de que la complejidad sintáctica del discurso oral y escrito producido por las personas mayores -por ejemplo, proporción de cláusulas subordinadas por oración, tipos de estructuras sintáctica-disminuye con la edad (Kemper 1987;Kemper y Sumner 2001;Kemper et al 2001aKemper et al y 2001b, es discutible atribuir estos resultados a una disminución de la capacidad de la MO. Hay otros factores que podrían explicar la producción de estructuras sintácticas más simples: por ejemplo, posibles diferencias en las elecciones pragmáticas que hacen los mayores en cuanto a cómo estructurar la información destinada a determinadas audiencias (Davidson et al 2003).…”