Discuss changes in language development in the late adulthood phase of life.

Answers will vary. People aged 75 and above tend to show a decline in reading comprehension that is related to a decrease in the scope of working memory. Because of the decline in working memory and because of impairments in hearing, many older adults find it more difficult to understand the spoken language. However, when the speaker slows down and articulates more clearly, comprehension increases. Older adults may also show deficiencies in language production. Although they may retain their receptive vocabularies, they often show a gradual decline in their expressive vocabularies-that is, the number of words they produce. It appears that declines in associative memory and working memory decrease the likelihood that words will 'be there" when older people try to summon up ideas. Similarly, older people are more likely to experience the frustrating "tip-of-the-tongue" phenomenon, in which they are certain that they know a word but temporarily cannot produce it.