Narrative speech in aging: quantity, information content, and cohesion.

Abstract

This study examined age-related changes in narrative speech of 79 adults aged 40-91 who told stories from their pictorial representations. Quantity, information content and cohesion of narratives were analysed using a detailed transcription and codification system. We carried out a LISREL analysis to study relationships between narrative performance and age, level of education and verbal capacity. Our results showed that aging increases quantity, reduces density of informational content and cohesive reference of narratives and increases the units of irrelevant content. Verbal capacity measured by a vocabulary test improves content and cohesion. The implications of the findings for the cognitive deficit and pragmatic change explanations of narrative speech are discussed.