Automatization of personal and impersonal discourse with narrative re-telling as a function of age. Issue 6 (2nd November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saling, Lauren L.; Laroo, Natasha; Saling, Michael M.
• Is Part Of: Aging, neuropsychology, and cognition. Volume 24:Issue 6(2017)
• Page Start: 649
• Page End: 661
• Publication Date: 2017-11-02
• Subjects: Aging -- discourse compression -- narrative retelling -- automaticity; Aging -- Periodicals; Cognition in old age -- Periodicals; Cognition disorders in old age -- Periodicals; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Aging -- periodicals; Neuropsychology -- periodicals; Cognition -- periodicals; Mental Disorders -- periodicals; Gerontology -- periodicals; Mental Health -- periodicals; 155.67
• DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2016.1247780
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1382-5585

Abstract

ABSTRACT: When older adults retell an impersonal story, the resulting narratives are typically characterized by more prolixity and less coherence than those produced by younger adults. We aimed to determine whether this pattern is also observed when retelling a personal narrative. Younger and older participants told a personal story three consecutive times. With retelling, no evidence of increased coherence or fluency or reduction in hesitancy was observed for either age group. The nature of autobiographical narrative construction explains why such stories are not subject to automatization. A failure to automatize personal narratives is not, therefore, a symptom of aging.