Older adults suppress expected words when predictions fail
An observational study of 52 younger and 49 older adults found that both groups suppressed expected words when sentences continued unexpectedly.
Limit: Changes in word suppression within individuals as they aged were not measured
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational study, 52 younger adults and 49 older adults completed a language task assessing whether they suppressed an expected word after a sentence continued unexpectedly. They also completed a stop-signal task, which measured their ability to stop a movement.
Older adults engaged inhibitory control—the ability to suppress an unwanted response—when their word predictions proved wrong, similarly to younger adults. The researchers also examined whether the ability to stop a movement was linked to suppressing incorrect word predictions. Their results raised the possibility that control processes used beyond language were involved in suppressing incorrect predictions in both age groups.
Why it matters
Cognitive aging often involves difficulties suppressing unwanted responses. This study addressed whether those difficulties extend to handling incorrect expectations during language comprehension.
Caveats
This observational comparison between age groups cannot establish how these abilities change within individuals as they age. The involvement of general control processes remained a possibility, not an established explanation.
