title: Age-related differences in recall for words using semantics and prosody.
abstract: The positivity effect is a developmental shift seen in older adults to be increasingly influenced by positive information in areas such as memory, attention, and decision-making. This study is the first to examine the age-related differences of the positivity effect for emotional prosody. Participants heard a factorial combination of words that were semantically positive or negative said with either positive or negative intonation. Results showed a semantic positivity effect for older adults, and a prosody positivity effect for younger adults. Additionally, older adults showed a significant decrease in recall for semantically negative words said in an incongruent prosodically positive tone.
authors.affiliation: a University of West Florida.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sober
authors.affiliation: a University of West Florida.
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: VanWormer
authors.affiliation: a University of West Florida.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Arruda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010700:Phonetics; D012660:Semantics; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging; communication; positivity effect; prosody; semantics