What Makes People Better at Describing Photographs?

This study is being conducted to learn more about how various personal and situational characteristics are related to the ability to provide verbal descriptions of photographs. Participants will perform a brief mental exercise, then see three photographs with instructions to describe each thoroughly. Participants will also complete several other surveys and measures. Collected data will give researchers a better understanding of how different variables relate to speech production.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy Aging
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mental Exercise

Detailed Description

This study is being conducted to learn more about how various personal and situational characteristics are related to the the ability to provide verbal descriptions of photographs. Adult participants ages 18-30 and 65-80 will participate in videoconference calls during which they perform a brief mental exercise, then see three photographs with instructions to describe each thoroughly. Descriptions are to be 30 to 60 seconds in length and are audio recorded for later scoring. Participants will also complete several other surveys and measures, including some about anxiety, mindfulness, vocabulary, and demographics. Participation will take approximately 40 to 60 minutes. Collected data will be de-identified, and the aggregate data will give researchers a better understanding of how individuals' personality and cognitive traits and the mental exercise performed before the study relate to peoples' speech production performance.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 182
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, 80918
      • UCCS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• fluent speakers of English
• ages 18-30 or ages 65-80

Exclusion Criteria:

• non-fluent speakers of English
• people who are not ages 18-30 or ages 65-80

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mindful Breathing; Participants follow instructions regarding a mindful breathing exercise on a 10-min audio clip	Behavioral: Mental Exercise; Participants perform a 10 minute mental exercise that is either mindful breathing or listening to a story
Active Comparator: Control; Participants follow instructions and listen to a 10-min audio clip of a story	Behavioral: Mental Exercise; Participants perform a 10 minute mental exercise that is either mindful breathing or listening to a story

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Speech Rate	Average number of words per second spoken	During the 40 to 60 minute experimental session
Speech Fillers Mid-Phrase	Average number of mid-phrase speech fillers as a percentage of words spoken	During the 40 to 60 minute experimental session
Speech Fillers Other	Average number of speech fillers not in the middle of a phrase as a percentage of words spoken	During the 40 to 60 minute experimental session
Repairs Plus False Starts	Average number of repairs plus false starts as a percentage of words spoken. These two measures reflect the same underlying process so are summed together; indeed, one or the other term is sometimes used to indicate both measures.	During the 40 to 60 minute experimental session
Repetitions	Average number of repetitions as a percentage of words spoken	During the 40 to 60 minute experimental session

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lori James, PhD, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 22, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 23, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): May 23, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 18, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 30, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 5, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 22, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 15, 2024
• Last Verified: August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: cognitive aging; speech production
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2020-006; R15AG063111-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified participant data may be posted on a website for open access to other researchers, if the publication outlet requires it., but is not currently planned.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No