Age differences in memory-load interference effects in syntactic processing

Abstract

The effects of a memory load on syntactic processing by younger and older adults were examined. Participants were asked to remember a noun phrase (NP) memory load while they read sentences varying in syntactic complexity. Two types of NPs were used as memory loads: proper names or definite descriptions referring to occupations or roles. The NPs used in the sentence and memory load either matched (e.g., all proper names or all occupations), or they mismatched. Participants read complex sentences more slowly than they did simpler sentences; for young adults, this complexity effect was exacerbated when memory interference was generated by matching NPs in the sentence and memory load, whereas for older adults, memory-load interference did not vary with sentence complexity or memory-load matching. These results suggest that a general reduction in older adults' processing capacity was produced by the memory load, whereas the matching memory loads and sentence NPs produced a more specific form of interference that affected young adults' online processing. Copyright 2006 by The Gerontological Society of America.