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Collaboration with Diverse Partners:

How Older Women Adapt their Speech

North Dakota State University, gould{at}badlands.nodak.edu

Lori Shaleen

North Dakota State University

In this study, we investigate the ability and motivation of older women to adapt their speaking style to the receptive and conversational needs of their partner during dyadic interactions. Older women (M = 68 years) performed a series of collaborative tasks varying in cognitive difficulty with a female college student and a woman with mild mental retardation. These tasks included (a) a 3-minute getting acquainted task, (b) menu planning, (c) collaborative block design, and (d) finding 20 things in common. Particularly through their use of questions, commands, and self-disclosures, these older women were shown to adapt their collaborative style across different partner and task situations. In contrast, the content of self-disclosures made by the older women was similar across partner type.

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