Constraints on Language: Grammar, Memory and Aging

Sedona, AZ

March 25-28, 1998

The 1998 Merrill conference involved American, Canadian, and European researchers with expertise in the areas of language, memory and aging. The conference was designed to maximize interactions among leading scholars from several fields, and to give pre- and post-doctoral trainees the opportunity to learn from senior researchers. The conference enhanced the relationship between the University of Kansas and the University of Potsdam in Germany.

The Research Training Program in Communication and Aging at the University of Kansas joined with the Merrill Center to sponsor this event.

Conference themes included:

  • the social context of communication by and with older adults
  • the effects of memory loss on older adults' communication
  • language processing by older adults.

Participants contributed to a book on this topic. It was edited by Susan Kemper at the University of Kansas and Reinhold Kliegl at the University of Potsdam, and was published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1999.

The research findings have clear implications for addressing the practical problems of older adults as consumers of leisure time reading, radio and television broadcasts, and as targets of medical, legal and financial documents.

Pictured below, back row, left to right: Lynn Frazier, Mary Lee Hummert, Reinhold Kliegl, Dan Kempler, Thomas Gunter, Joan McDowd, Diane Filion, and Ruth Herman. Middle row: Mabel Rice, Sherry Speer, Laureen O’Hanlon, Gisbert Fanselow, Deborah Burke, Susan Kemper, Elizabeth Stine, Pam Saunders, Melanie Morgan, and Karen Kemtes. Front row: Arthur Wingfield, Gloria Waters, and David Caplan

Back row, left to right: Lynn Frazier, Mary Lee Hummert, Reinhold Kliegl, Dan Kempler, Thomas Gunter, Joan McDowd, Diane Filion, and Ruth Herman. Middle row: Mabel Rice, Sherry Speer, Laureen O’Hanlon, Gisbert Fanselow, Deborah Burke, Susan Kemper, Elizabeth Stine, Pam Saunders, Melanie Morgan, and Karen Kemtes. Front row: Arthur Wingfield, Gloria Waters, and David Caplan

Resource

1998 Conference Participants

Robert Barnhill, Vice Chancellor for Research & Public Service, University of Kansas

Deborah Burke, Pomona College, Psychology Department

David Caplan, Neuropsychology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Gisbert Fanselow, Linguistics, University of Potsdam

Diane Filion, Occupational Therapy Education, University of Kansas Medical Center

Lyn Frazier, Linguistics Department, University of Massachusetts

Thomas Gunter, Max-Planck Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience

Ruth Herman, Psychology Department, University of Kansas

Mary Lee Hummert, Gerontology, University of Kansas

Susan Kemper, Conference Director, Gerontology, University of Kansas

Daniel Kempler, Speech Pathology, LAC + USC Medical Center

Karen Kemtes, Department of Psychology, University of Kansas

Reinhold Kliegl, Psychology, University of Potsdam

Joan McDowd, Occupational Therapy Education, University of Kansas Medical Center

Melanie Morgan, Communication Studies, University of Kansas

Laureen O’Hanlon, Speech-Language-Hearing, University of Kansas

Mabel Rice, Director, Merrill Advanced Studies Center, Child Language Doctoral Program

Pam Saunders, Gerontology Department, University of Kansas

Richard Schiefelbusch, Director Emeritus, Lifespan Institute, University of Kansas

Stephen Schroeder, Director, Lifespan Institute, University of Kansas

Shari Speer, Speech-Language-Hearing and Psychology, University of Kansas

Elizabeth Stine-Morrow, Psychology Department, University of New Hampshire

Gloria Waters, Dept. of Communication Disorders, Sargent College, Boston University

Arthur Wingfield, Psychology Department, Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University