"Older is always better": Age-related differences in vocabulary scores across 16 years

  • Boaz M. Ben-David
  • , Hadas Erel
  • , Huiwen Goy
  • , Bruce A. Schneider

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cross-sectional studies of cognitive aging compare age groups at 1 time point. It is unclear from such studies whether age-related cognitive differences remain stable across time. We present a cross-sectional investigation of vocabulary scores of 2,000 younger and older adults collected across 16 years, using the same laboratory and protocol. We found a steady decrease with year of testing and an advantage for older adults. An additive relation between age group and year of testing implied that age-related differences in vocabulary are independent of changes over time, suggesting that younger and older adults are similarly affected by changes in word usage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)856-862
Number of pages7
JournalPsychology and Aging
Volume30
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Aging
  • Cognitive abilities
  • Cohort
  • Vocabulary
  • Year of testing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Aging
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology

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