Author:
Reinecke Robert,di Paola Simona,Domaneschi Filippo,Fossard Marion
Abstract
AbstractThe present study investigates the processing of presuppositions across the life span and extends the findings of the only available study on presupposition processing and typical aging by Domaneschi and Di Paola (J Pragmat 140:70–87, 2019). In an online and offline task, we investigate the impact of cognitive load during the processing and recovery of two presupposition triggers—definite descriptions and change-of-state verbs—comparing a group of younger adults with a group of older adults. The collected experimental data show that (1) presupposition recovery declines during normal aging, (2) presupposition recovery of change-of-state verbs is more cognitively demanding for older adults than the recovery of definite descriptions, and lastly (3) presupposition recovery for the change-of-state verbbeginis more demanding than the change-of-state verbstop. As of today, few works have directly investigated presupposition processing across the life span. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work revealing that cognitive load directly impacts the recovery of presuppositions across the life span, which in turn suggests an involvement of verbal working memory.
Funder
Bundesbehörden der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft
University of Neuchâtel
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Artificial Intelligence,Cognitive Neuroscience,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology,General Medicine
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