Patronizing the Old: How Do Younger and Older Adults Respond to Baby Talk in the Nursing Home?

To test the implications of Communication Accommodation Theory for intergenerational talk to dependent older persons, eighty young adults and seventy-one older adults evaluated speakers in a brief taped conversation. Specifically, the study was conducted to determine whether the apparent nurturant quality of the baby talk tone of voice and parental style would compensate for the lack of respect associated with this type of patronizing talk to …