Characteristics for 200 words rated by young and older adults: age-dependent evaluations of German adjectives (AGE)

Behav Res Methods. 2008 Nov;40(4):1088-97. doi: 10.3758/BRM.40.4.1088.

Abstract

We describe the Age-Dependent Evaluations of German Adjectives (AGE). This database contains ratings for 200 German adjectives by young and older adults (general word-rating study) and graduate students (self-other relevance study). Words were rated on emotion-relevant (valence, arousal, and control) and memory-relevant (imagery) characteristics. In addition, adjectives were evaluated for self-relevance (Does this attribute describe you?), age relevance (Is this attribute typical for young or for older adults?), and self-other relevance (Is this attribute more relevant for the possessor or for other persons?). These ratings are included in the AGE database as a resource tool for experiments on word material. Our comparisons of young and older adults' evaluations revealed similarities but also significant mean-level differences for a large number of adjectives, especially on the valence dimension. This highlights the importance of age in the perception of emotional words. Data for all the words are archived at www.psychonomic.org/archive/.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affect
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Attitude*
  • Female
  • Germany
  • Humans
  • Linguistics
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Speech Perception
  • Vocabulary*