A comparison of speed and accuracy of word retrieval in geriatric and younger adult speakers

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between geriatric and younger adult speakers in accuracy and speed of word retrieval on two tests of word retrieval, which differed by commonality of words. The subjects, grouped by age, demonstrated adequate functional hearing and vision and had no history of neuropathology or diagnosis of dementia by self report. The older subjects were also identified as mobile and socially active.

The results did not indicate any significant age differences in accuracy or speed of word retrieval, but significant differences between tests were found. A moderate correlation between speed of retrieval and receptive vocabulary size was also indicated.

The findings of this study suggested that although the difference in mean scores was not significant, the individual subject data indicated more variation in both speed and accuracy for the older subjects in comparison with the younger subjects. The comparison of test differences implied that common words were retrieved more effficiently than less frequently occurring words. The relationship between receptive vocabulary and speed of word retrieval was also discussed.