Influence of age and schooling in written discourse of healthy adults

Zanichelli, Larissa; Fonseca, Róchele Paz; Ortiz, Karin Zazo

doi:10.1186/s41155-020-00148-7

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Research • Psicol. Reflex. Crit. 33 • 2020 • https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-020-00148-7 copy

Influence of age and schooling in written discourse of healthy adults

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Background:

Discourse production is a very complex cognitive task that requires the integration of several linguistic cognitive skills. Socio-demographic factors such as schooling can impact on cognitive tasks. This study investigated the impact of age and schooling in some macrolinguistic and microlinguistic aspects in the written discourse of healthy adults.

Methods:

Individuals with no previous history of language, hearing, neurological, or psychiatric disorders were asked to write a story based on a figure that showed a “bank robbery.” A total of 463 graphic narrative were analyzed. The schooling was stratified into the following three bands: 5 to 8 years, 9 to 11 years and 12 or more, and the age ranged from 19 to 75 years.

Results:

Individuals with high schooling (12 years or more) produced discourses with more information units, more coherent, and cohesive. The oldest group (60 to 75 years) needed more time to finish the written production.

Conclusion:

The schooling influences some micro and macrolinguistic aspects in the written discourse production. A higher educational level provided a greater number of words as well as a higher number of information units, and the discourses produced are more coherent and cohesive. The age influenced only the time of discourse production.

Keywords:
Narrative discourse; Education; Schooling; Aging

Speech elements		β	Standard error	p	0 95% ( β )
No. of words
	Males	- 0.5	1.6	0.771	- 3.7; 2.7
	Age range, 40-59	0.2	1.7	0.906	- 3.1; 3.5
	Age range, 60-75	- 1.1	2.1	0.582	- 5.2; 3.0
	Education level, 9-11	6.8	1.8	< 0.001	3.2; 10.4
	Education level:,≥ 12	20.1	1.8	< 0.001	16.5; 23.7
Production time
	Males	- 1.8	7.2	0.801	- 15.9; 12.3
	Age range, 40-59	7.9	7.5	0.291	- 6.8; 22.7
	Age range, 60-75	23.8	9.3	0.011	5.6; 42.0
	Education level, 9-11	10.2	8.1	0.212	- 5.8; 26.2
	Education level, ≥ 12	36.1	8.1	< 0.001	20.1; 52.0
Number of IU
	Males	0.1	0.2	0.550	- 0.3; 0.5
	Age range, 40-59	- 0.1	0.2	0.777	- 0.5; 0.4
	Age range, 60-75	0.0	0.3	0.955	- 0.5; 0.5
	Education level, 9-11	1.3	0.2	< 0.001	0.9; 1.8
	Education level, ≥ 12	2.3	0.2	< 0.001	1.9; 2.8
Number of elements
	Males	0.0	0.1	0.784	- 0.2; 0.1
	Age range, 40-59	0.0	0.1	0.803	- 0.2; 0.1
	Age range, 60-75	- 0.1	0.1	0.313	- 0.3; 0.1
	Education level, 9-11	0.5	0.1	< 0.001	0.3; 0.7
	Education level, ≥ 12	0.8	0.1	< 0.001	0.7; 1.0

Speech elements		OR	Standard error	p	CI 95% (OR)
Scene description
Males		2.0	0.4	0.001	1.3; 3.1
	Age range, 40-59	1.6	0.4	0.052	1.0; 2.5
	Age range, 60-75	1.6	0.5	0.082	0.9; 2.8
	Education level, 9-11	0.7	0.2	0.166	0.4; 1.1
	Education level, ≥ 12	0.6	0.1	0.018	0.3; 0.9
Scene narration
	Males	0.5	0.1	0.002	0.3; 0.8
	Age range, 40-59	0.6	0.1	0.033	0.4; 1.0
	Age range, 60-75	0.6	0.2	0.059	0.3; 1.0
	Education level, 9-11	1.4	0.3	0.203	0.8; 2.2
	Education level, ≥ 12	1.8	0.4	0.018	1.1; 2.9
Discourse coherence
	Males	2.8	1.6	0.070	0.9; 8.5
	Age range, 40-59	0.8	0.4	0.680	0.3; 2.1
	Age range, 60-75	0.7	0.4	0.526	0.2; 2.1
	Education level, 9-11	2.6	1.2	0.040	1.0; 6.5
	Education level, ≥ 12	9.4	7.1	0.003	2.1; 41.4
Discourse cohesion
	Males	0.7	0.3	0.466	0.3; 1.7
	Age range, 40-59	0.7	0.3	0.466	0.3; 1.7
	Age range, 60-75	0.9	0.5	0.905	0.3; 3.0
	Education level, 9-11	2.9	1.3	0.021	1.2; 7.1
	Education level, ≥ 12	10.6	8.0	0.002	2.4; 46.4

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[1] * Correspondence: karin.ortiz@unifesp.br