Measurement and Correlates of Verbosity in Elderly People

Two studies were conducted to develop measures of verbosity in elderly people and to determine the social and psychological correlates of verbose speech. In the first study, 346 elderly people were classified into three categories of verbosity on the basis of their verbal behavior during an interview and questionnaire session. Personality variables, stress in daily living, and age differentiated extremely verbose individuals from others. In the second study, frequency and extent of off-target speech were rated quantitatively for the verbal behavior of 203 older men, with a second rater independently making the same ratings for 98 of the men. Classification into the three categories of verbosity was made for 179 of the men. Interrater reliability was established at .76 and .70 for the two measures of verbosity. There was significant agreement between the qualitative classification and the quantitative rating assessments of verbosity. In addition to the previously found associations between verbosity and personality and social variables, higher nonverbal intellectual performance scores obtained in the early adult years combined with poorer current nonverbal scores predicted verbosity in late life.