The pressure to communicate efficiently continues to shape language use later in life

Language use is shaped by a pressure to communicate efficiently, yet the tendency towards redundancy is said to increase in older age. The longstanding assumption is that saying more than is necessary is inefficient and may be driven by age-related decline in inhibition (i.e. the ability to filter o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2020-05, Vol.10 (1), p.8214-8214, Article 8214
Main Authors: Long, Madeleine, Rohde, Hannah, Rubio-Fernandez, Paula
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/2612
631/477/2811
Adult
Age
Aged
Aging
Aging - physiology
Children & youth
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Communication
Efficiency
Football
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Hypotheses
Language
Middle Aged
multidisciplinary
Older people
Pressure
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Young adults
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Summary:Language use is shaped by a pressure to communicate efficiently, yet the tendency towards redundancy is said to increase in older age. The longstanding assumption is that saying more than is necessary is inefficient and may be driven by age-related decline in inhibition (i.e. the ability to filter out irrelevant information). However, recent work proposes an alternative account of efficiency: In certain contexts, redundancy facilitates communication (e.g., when the colour or size of an object is perceptually salient and its mention aids the listener’s search). A critical question follows: Are older adults indiscriminately redundant, or do they modulate their use of redundant information to facilitate communication? We tested efficiency and cognitive capacities in 200 adults aged 19–82. Irrespective of age, adults with better attention switching skills were redundant in efficient ways, demonstrating that the pressure to communicate efficiently continues to shape language use later in life.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-64475-6