Aging-related Differences in Emotional Valence from the Verb Fluency Task Depending on the Time Period

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify differences between younger and older adults in emotional valence (EV) of words produced during the first and second halves of a 1-minute verb fluency (VF) task. We also sought to determine the relationships between EV, demographic information, VF performance, working memory (WM), and Korean- Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). Methods: A total of 62 healthy individuals participated in the study, with 31 individuals in each age group. A VF-task was conducted for a 1-minute window. The ratios of positive or negative verbs were calculated for the first and second halves of the task period. Digit forward and backward tests were administered and treated as a single index of WM capacity. Results: Both groups produced significantly more positive-EV words than negative, and in the first 30s compared to last 30s. The older adults produced significantly more positive-EV words in the first 30s than the younger group. The positive-EV ratio of verbs in the first 30s showed a significant negative correlation with task performance, K-MMSE, and WM measure. It also showed significant positive correlation with participants’ age. Conclusion: The current study indicates a significant decline in word production rate over time, and a tendency of easily producing positive-EV words in both group. Furthermore, the study revealed the elderly’s positivity effect on task performance. Lastly, using more positive-EV words in the early period of task tendency was significantly and negatively correlated with the task performance, WM measures, and KMMSE.