We investigated the processes of lexical retrieval during the production of adjectival noun phrases (NPs) such as "the blue kite". We used various current assumptions about the scope of grammatical and phonological encoding and about the locus of the classic frequency effect to derive predictions about possible frequency effects in the NP naming task. The predictions were tested in two picturenaming experiments where we manipulated orthogonally the frequencies of the adjective and of the noun that composed the NPs. We consistently found frequency effects for both adjectives and nouns. Moreover the effects were additive. We argue that the existence of a frequency effect for the noun during noun phrase production restricts the various combinations of assumptions that speech production models can hold simultaneously. Possible implications of the additivity of the effects for the time course of lexical access are also discussed.

hyperarticulation

Language in old age has been an active research area since early experimental investigations in cognitive aging (e.g., Craik & Masani, 1967; Riegel & Riegel, 1964). This is undoubtedly because of the profound importance of language throughout the life span not only in cognition, but in social interactions as well. Declines in language processing, such as increased difficulty in understanding spoken language or in producing a word while speaking, undermine older adults ’ ability and desire to communicate, and can erode evaluation of their language competence by themselves and by others (e.g., Hummert, Garstka, Ryan & Bonnesen, 2004; Ryan, See, Meneer & Trovato, 1994). Negative self-appraisal promotes withdrawal from social interaction, and negative appraisal by others promotes their use of oversimplified speech to older adults (Hummert et al., 2004; Kemper, Finter-Urczyk, Ferrell, Harden & Billington, 1998). This downward cycle highlights the practical significance of identifying patterns of change in language during adulthood and old age, especially since there is good news about aging in this research. The aging pattern is characterized by stability and improvement during adulthood in some language functions, unlike other cognitive abilities such as episodic or working memory which are characterized by quite uniform age-related decrements. Research on language processing has also played an important role in the development of