Influence of age and schooling in written discourse of healthy adults

Abstract

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