Narrative discourse, or the ability to recall and tell an orderly and continuous account of an event or a series of events, is a vital aspect of social communication. Narrative discourse includes the ability to express imaginary stories, recount personal events, and describe instructions to execute a task. During the normal aging process, individuals often experience changes in their language abilities and executive functioning, or the control and regulation of cognitive actions and planning (Bakos et al., 2008). Due to these changes, many aging adults experience subtle changes in their ability to produce and comprehend narratives. Conversely, elderly individuals are at higher risk of acquiring cognitive injuries, such as strokes, and nervous system disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, which can further impact an individual’s language, memory, and executive functioning. …show more content…
For example, Cooper (1990) aimed to compare narrative discourse performance in younger and older adults by recruiting 80 individuals between the ages of 20 and 78 to tell three narratives based on different pictures. Cooper found that most aspects of narrative discourse, such as production, conciseness, and information imparted, are preserved during normal aging. Likewise, Ulatowska et al. (1998) examined the narrative discourse ability of elderly individuals aged 80 and 95 during two sessions spaced three years apart. The research team found that there were no significant changes in the participant’s overall narrative discourse performance or macro-level processing between the two sessions (Ulatowska et al., 1998). Clearly, narrative discourse is generally well preserved during the normal aging