[en] From an early age, children develop stereotypes toward older adults leading to potential ageism. In young adults, ageism includes conversational changes, also known as elderspeak, characterized by louder, slower, and simplified speech. Although it has direct consequence on older adults, to date no studies have explored elderspeak in children. We invited 137 Belgian children aged 7 to 12 to take part in a guessing game through a dissimulated Skype session. The child had to make two female interlocutors in turn, one young (25 years old) and the other old (75), guess two different words each. During the session, children remained unaware of the real purpose of the game. Prosody, verbal fluency, and semantic content of their speech were measured using the Praat and VocabProfil software. The results, analyzed using mixed-design ANOVA, showed that children spoke louder to the older interlocutor and tended to judge her less competent to guess words than the younger participant. When the older person was second in turn, children engaged in lengthier and more detailed explanations. Unexpectedly, positive views on older people correlated with higher voice intensity, suggesting the child’s differential verbal attitudes may translate a form of benevolent ageism. In conclusion, significant speech accommodation can be detected in 7-12 year-old children when they speak to an older compared to a younger interlocutor. This accommodation is characterized by louder voice and lengthier explanations.
Disciplines :
Treatment & clinical psychology
Author, co-author :
Flamion, Allison ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie > Département de Psychologie
Missotten, Pierre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie de la sénescence et du vieillissement
Goffinet, Alysson; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie de la sénescence et du vieillissement
Kukor, Léna; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie de la sénescence et du vieillissement
Nagy, Noemi; University of Bern > Department of Work and Organizational Psychology
Adam, Stéphane ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie > Psychologie de la sénescence et du vieillissement
Language :
English
Title :
Speech accommodation toward older people in 7- to 12-year-old children
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