Age-related changes in the appreciation of novel metaphoric semantic relations

In the present study we tested the possibility that older adults differ from younger adults
in their appreciation of metaphoric semantic relations, and that age-related changes
occur due to the perception of novel metaphors. In the first experiment 35 younger
(mean age=23.1) and 35 older adults (mean age=75.3) were asked to rate the plausibility
of metaphoric, literal, and unrelated word pairs. Relative to young participants,
older participants rated fewer expressions as metaphorically plausible. The second
experiment was conducted to examine whether the findings of the first experiment could
be accounted for by an age-associated difference in the appreciation of metaphors with
different levels of familiarity. In the second experiment, 25 younger (mean age=24.4)
and 25 older adults (mean age=77.5) were asked to rate the familiarity level of the
plausible metaphoric expressions. Relative to young participants, older participants
rated fewer expressions as novel and more expressions as familiar. The results suggest
that novelty plays an important role in appreciating the plausibility of semantic relationships,
and age-related changes are associated with the appreciation of the novelty
of expressions