Understanding Communication & Aging Ch. 2

Alzheimer’s Disease

Degenerative brain disease that leads to severe loss of function

Associated with forgetfulness and language impairments

Pathological Aging

Emphasizes negatives that come with aging (losses, disease, etc.)

Grammatical Complexity

Measure of how complex the syntax is in a sentence

Often a struggle for older adults

Inhibitory Capacity

Ability to shut down some thoughts to focus on others

Impaired in older people; results in off-topic verbosity

Language Production

Capability of producing words, syntax, grammar in an appropriate context

Language Comprehension

Understanding of words, syntax, grammar in a presented context

Normal Aging

Aging without disease or disability

Upper frequency hearing loss is normal

Off-target verbosity

Taking for a long time and not in a focused way

Ex: Story about a topic becomes something different

Presbycusis

Loss of hearing in the higher frequencies

Social Identity Theory

Theory that explains the reasons why group membership is important and why we dislike members of groups other than our own