28.339, Review: Cog Sci; General Ling; Neuroling; Socioling: Wright (2016)

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Subject: 28.339, Review: Cog Sci; General Ling; Neuroling; Socioling: Wright (2016)

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Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2017 10:28:53
From: Judith Lejeck [j-lejeck at neiu.edu]
Subject: Cognition, Language and Aging

 
Discuss this message:
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-1682.html

EDITOR: Heather Harris  Wright
TITLE: Cognition, Language and Aging
PUBLISHER: John Benjamins
YEAR: 2016

REVIEWER: Judith M Lejeck, Northeastern Illinois University

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

Summary

Designed as an advanced textbook, as stated on the back cover, Cognition,
Language and Aging has nine chapters, each one about different aspects of the
normal aging process and its effects on language and the brain.

The first chapter, “Cognition, language, and aging: An introduction”, written
by Amy Henderson and book editor Heather Harris Wright, states that the book’s
goal is to present a comprehensive overview of the most recent scholarship
from neurophysiology, cognition, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics in
contributing to a better understanding of normal changes in language during
the aging process (p. 1). Chapter 1 also includes an overview of the remaining
chapters, and it concludes with a summary of some of the major ideas that
recur in several other chapters. 

Chapter 2, “The Tip-of-the-Tongue phenomenon: Who, what, and why”, by Lise
Abrams and Danielle K. Davis, is a very thorough look at the tip-of-the-tongue
phenomenon (TOT), the phenomenon of not being able to retrieve a word that one
knows is in one’s lexicon. This is a frustrating experience that occurs in
people of all ages at times but increases in frequency with normal aging. The
authors discuss many studies about the TOT. They begin with those that explore
possible causes and how such factors as inhibition, lexical selection, and
phonological processing fit into causation theories. Research on two of the
major hypotheses that attempt to explain the increase of TOT in the normal
aging population, the Inhibition Deficit Hypothesis and the Transmission
Deficit Hypothesis, is explained in detail. This chapter also covers research
on resolution of TOTs, i.e., how the intended word is eventually retrieved. 

Chapter 3 is “Age-related effects on language production: A combined
psycho-linguistic and neurolinguistic perspective”, by Andrea Marini and Sara
Andreetta. It begins by discussing the language processing system as a whole
and goes on to explain the findings of studies in age-related effects on
various aspects of language processing, such as lexical processing,
grammatical processing, and discourse production. This chapter also covers
research on the relevance of neural networks to the language production
process, noting in particular the contribution of neuroimaging techniques in
the last 20 years. One important conclusion the authors make is that many
studies agree that though phonological retrieval slows and grammar complexity
declines with age, lexical knowledge does not.

In Chapter 4, “Aging effects on discourse production”, Stephen Kintz,
Gerasimos Fergadiotis, and Heather Harris Wright discuss the stages of
processing on both the microlinguistic (e.g. phonology, syntax) and
macrolinguistic (beyond-sentence) levels and how they interact in the
production of discourse. Their focus is on research relative to lexical
diversity within the microlinguistic level and coherence within the
macrolinguistic level. Their “Future directions” section points out that
discourse processes in the aging population is an area in need of further
research and that this research should be viewed in terms of discourse models,
something which hasn’t happened much yet in recent research (p. 101).
Additionally, they point out in the conclusion that a better understanding of
discourse changes in normal aging will contribute to more understanding of the
contrasts between normal aging changes and those in people with aphasia and
dementia. 
 
In Chapter 5, titled “Language comprehension in aging”, Gayle DeDe and Jessica
Knilans Flax review the variables involved in sentence comprehension that are
relevant to changes in comprehension abilities of normally aging older adults.
There is a detailed discussion of variables related to sentence comprehension,
namely, word recognition, predictability, word order, and auditory and visual
acuity. After their discussion of the many recent studies that have been done
on these variables, the authors conclude that many older adults take more time
than younger adults to comprehend sentences due to reduced working memory and
worsening visual and/or auditory acuity. However, they also conclude that much
evidence shows that older adults compensate for these declines by means of a
positive strategy of using processing resources differently as well as using
their experience-based knowledge of language. 

Chapter 6, “The role of cognition on age-related changes in language, memory,
and mental models”, is by David E. Copeland, Nicole J. Bies-Hernandez, and
Kris Guawan. Its focus is on studies that examine how changes in cognition
affect language processing and comprehension, including the maintenance of
some cognitive abilities along with the decline of others. The authors
conclude, based on the studies they cite, that normal aging adults do
experience cognitive declines, such as lessening working memory (which affects
results on reasoning tasks) and greater interference from irrelevant
information. Prominent among the maintained abilities are the construction and
retention of situation and event models. These strengths are pointed out as
intrinsically beneficial not only for aging adults in their everyday lives and
for theoretical research, but also for the design of learning materials for
older adults, materials that can take advantage of abilities such as drawing
inferences within a rich context such as a narrative.

Chapter 7, “Reading in normally aging adults”, is by Peter C. Gordon, Matthew
W. Lowder, and Renske S. Hoedemaker. The chapter begins with a discussion of
the importance of maintaining reading skills for older adults, for both
practical tasks and cognitive benefits that might help diminish changes in the
brain. It reviews and cites many studies to support its conclusion that
normally aging adults typically do not experience declines in most reading
skills. In fact, the authors refer to evidence that when declines occur, it is
usually because of vision changes, not cognitive declines. Furthermore, aging
adults commonly compensate for these declines. In the category of preserved
skills, evidence of text memory, semantic knowledge, and sentence processing
ability, along with compensation based on lifelong knowledge, vocabulary, and
print exposure, have been demonstrated in many recent studies.

Chapter 8 is “Cognitive and linguistic processes among oldest old persons:
Heterogeneity, methodological challenges, and relevance of psychosocial
resources”, written by Jennifer A. Margrett, Peter Martin, John L. Woodard,
and Leonard W. Poon. This chapter covers recent studies comparing a subgroup
of the aging population, referred to as the “oldest old” (page 193) and three
issues related to cognition and language: heterogeneity within this age group,
challenges to researchers studying them, and resources, especially
psychosocial ones, that members of this age group may (or may not) have
available to them. These three issues have made forming any theories or
conclusions about the oldest old difficult, including comparing them to
normally aging or non-normally aging older adults under the age of 90, the
current cutoff age between old age and very old age. The authors contend in
their conclusion that more research of the oldest old is needed, despite the
difficulties and complexities involved in the three issues they focus on.

Chapter 9, the final chapter, “Sociolinguistics, language, and aging”, by Boyd
Davis and Margaret Maclagan, discusses recent studies related to
sociolinguistics and aging. The authors point out that a sociolinguistic
approach to aging research was relatively rare in the literature until the
mid-1990s. And, even at that time, most studies examined people in the public
eye, such as Ronald Reagan and Iris Murdoch, in the context of Alzheimer’s
disease (p. 221). Since that time, however, the scope of sociolinguistic
approaches has expanded considerably, say the authors, and they provide ample
evidence of this in the rest of the chapter. For example, they discuss studies
that connect findings from clinical studies with those from sociolinguistics. 
They also cover two sociolinguistic approaches, variation and discourse, as
applied to studies on aging. Studies involving the influence of such factors
as identity, gender, and the Internet are also discussed. 

Evaluation

Cognition, Language and Aging is purported to be an advanced textbook, and
while it could certainly serve that purpose well, it may be of even more
importance outside of a course environment. For professionals in any field
related to aging and language, especially those involved in research, this
volume could serve as an excellent reference. Even for a lay reader interested
in the effects of normal aging, it could help by adding to general knowledge,
helping dispel myths about aging, and bringing clarity to differences between
dementia and normal aging that affect language, keeping in mind that some of
the chapter contents may be too technical for the general public.

According to the introductory Chapter 1, the purpose of this book is to
“provide an advanced text that considers these unique challenges and
assembles, in one source, current information regarding cognitive-linguistic
processes in the aging population” (p. 1). This goal is thoroughly
accomplished with the contributions of professionals in several relevant
fields presenting their findings. 

For students or researchers reading the entire book from start to finish, a
similarity in each chapter’s organization contributes to the coherence of the
book as a whole. Every chapter includes an introductory abstract, like a
typical professional journal article, and the body of each chapter begins with
an explanation of the relevance and importance of the the chapter topic. When
necessary, definitions of relevant terms that may not be familiar to all
readers are also provided.  Most chapters then go into detail about recent
scholarship; they each end with a conclusion section; some chapters also
include a discussion of future directions. Also reinforcing the coherence of
the volume is the frequent reference to topics in previous chapters, making
the book read more like a textbook than a collection of essays. This feature,
plus the liberal use of subheadings throughout each chapter, is a plus for
someone who wants to read or reread specific subsections rather than an entire
chapter. 

Another valuable feature is the number of sources cited. For chapters that are
on average 20-30 pages long, (with Chapter 2, at 40 pages, the longest) the
wealth of references at the end of each chapter is impressive. For example,
the first four chapters list 54, 262, 143, and 78 sources, respectively.
Anyone looking to read further about almost any aspect of language and aging
would have a virtual treasure-trove of sources to choose from. And, for anyone
relatively new to the field of language and aging, seeing names of oft-cited
professional journals could be very valuable for further, independent
research.

There are, however, a few additions I would recommend. One is an expanded
index. Though most of the important topics are included, for a book with so
much terminology, I expected an index longer than 1-1/2 pages. An author index
would have been a plus, too. Next, most edited texts include a section about
the contributors, which is not present here. Only the university affiliation
is mentioned under each author’s name, after the chapter title. It would have
been interesting as well as helpful to know the various fields the different
authors work in, as well as their relevant experiences and accomplishments. In
addition, although many studies and experiments are referred to in every
chapter, not many concrete examples are given. The few times examples and/or
data from experiments are included, both theory and interpretation become much
clearer. Lastly, at the risk of being labeled a prescriptive grammar geek, I
was put off by typos and grammatical errors, though they were not frequent and
didn’t inhibit comprehension.

To sum up, Cognition, Language and Aging could be a helpful source for anyone
investigating or working with older adults. The drawback, as with any current
research on language and aging, is that what is current becomes not current
very quickly. The latest studies cited in this volume were dated 2014 and some
were from the 1980s. Though this doesn’t necessarily make earlier studies
outdated or irrelevant, anyone looking for the most up-to-date information
would have to supplement their search with newer publications.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Judith M. Lejeck is a Master's Degree in Linguistics candidate at Northeastern
Illinois University in Chicago, IL. She hopes to continue her academic studies
in a doctoral program, where she can pursue her research interests in feminist
linguistics, discourse analysis, and identity and power in language within
different age groups.





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