title: "Older is always better": Age-related differences in vocabulary scores across 16 years.
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.
authors.affiliation: Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.
authors.forename: Boaz M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Ben-David
authors.affiliation: Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.
authors.forename: Hadas
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Erel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga.
authors.forename: Huiwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga.
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000066492:Cognitive Aging; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult