Social Perceptions of Failures in Memory Monitoring

Can repetitious verbal behavior elicit negative stereotypes about age, memory, and competence? Young adults (n = 102, M age = 19.3 years) and community-dwelling older adults (n = 98, M age = 67.3 years) read a script containing a hypothetical conversation between 2 female targets. In the experimental condition, 1 of the targets repeated several statements during the conversation. Significant Target x Condition interactions were obtained on measures of perceived age, competence, and memory ability. The results demonstrate that conversational behavior may contribute to negative age-related perceptions in the same way as other external markers of age (e.g., vocal and facial features).