Abstract We used self-paced reading to examine whether stereotypical associations of verbs with women or men as prototypical agents (e.g. the craftsman knits a sweater) are activated during sentence processing in dementia patients and healthy older adults. Effects of stereotypical knowledge on language processing have frequently been observed in young adults, but little is known about age-related changes in the activation and integration of stereotypical information. While syntactic processing may remain intact, semantic capacities are often affected in dementia. Since inferences based on gender stereotypes draw on social and world knowledge, access to stereotype information may also be affected in dementia patients. Results from dementia patients (n = 9, average age 86.6) and healthy older adults (n = 14, average age 79.5) showed slower reading times and less accuracy in comprehension scores for dementia patients compared to the control group. While activation of stereotypical associations of verbs was visible in both groups, they differed with respect to the time-course of processing. The effect of stereotypes on comprehension accuracy was visible for healthy adults only. The evidence from reading times suggests that older adults with and without dementia engage stereotypical inferences during reading, which is in line with research on young adults.

中文翻译：

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在痴呆症患者和健康长者中处理性别定型观念：一项自定进度的阅读研究

摘要我们使用自定进度的阅读来检查在痴呆症患者和健康老年人的句子处理过程中，动词与女性或男性的原型定型关联（例如，工匠编织毛衣）是否被激活。在年轻人中经常观察到刻板印象知识对语言处理的影响，但关于刻板印象信息的激活和整合中与年龄相关的变化知之甚少。尽管句法处理可能保持不变，但痴呆症经常会影响语义能力。由于基于性别刻板印象的推论借鉴了社会和世界知识，因此痴呆症患者中刻板印象信息的获取也可能受到影响。痴呆症患者（n = 9，平均年龄86.6）和健康的老年人（n = 14，平均年龄79）的结果。5）与对照组相比，痴呆症患者的阅读时间较慢，理解评分的准确性较差。虽然在两组中都可以看到动词的定型联想的激活，但是它们在处理的时间过程方面有所不同。刻板印象对理解准确性的影响仅对健康成年人可见。阅读时间的证据表明，患有或不患有痴呆症的老年人在阅读过程中会进行刻板印象推断，这与对年轻人的研究一致。刻板印象对理解准确性的影响仅对健康成年人可见。阅读时间的证据表明，患有或不患有痴呆症的老年人在阅读过程中会进行刻板印象推断，这与对年轻人的研究一致。刻板印象对理解准确性的影响仅对健康成年人可见。阅读时间的证据表明，患有或不患有痴呆症的老年人在阅读过程中会进行刻板印象推断，这与对年轻人的研究一致。