Search

The current study examined the role of working memory in language activation during visual processing. Twenty-sixnative English speakers searched for a visual target while completing a concurrent linguistic memory task, a concurrentspatial memory task, or in the absence of dual-task demands. Linguistic activation was measured by comparing visualfixations to phonologically-overlapping items and control items whose names did not overlap with the target. Participantsexperienced significant phonological competition across all conditions, but memory load impacted the timing of competitorco-activation (delayed and more sustained under spatial load), as well as the magnitude (attenuated under both spatial andlinguistic loads) compared to the no-load condition. We conclude that linguistic representations are accessed duringvisual search even with concurrent cognitive loads, but that working memory influences the degree of language-basedcompetition, possibly by modulating the activation and maintenance of linguistic and spatial information.

Language experience influences cognition. Using behavioral and ERP measures, the present study examines whetherexperience with multiple languages can change how we form associations between concepts. Four experiments comparingbilingual and monolingual groups on semantic relatedness judgments indicate that highly proficient bilinguals perceiveconcepts as more related to one another than monolinguals. Results suggest that bilinguals denser lexical and phonologicalconnections across their two languages may shorten semantic distances between concepts. This finding is consistent withconnectionist models of language and suggests that the structure of the lexical and phonological systems may influenceconceptual level associations. We conclude that bilingualism has consequences for the structure of the language system atthe level of lexical-semantic connections.

Over the course of our lifetimes, we accumulate extensive experience associating the things that we see with the words we have learned to describe them. As a result, adults engaged in a visual search task will often look at items with labels that share phonological features with the target object, demonstrating that language can become activated even in non-linguistic contexts. This highly interactive cognitive system is the culmination of our linguistic and visual experiences--and yet, our understanding of how the relationship between language and vision develops remains limited. The present study explores the developmental trajectory of language-mediated visual search by examining whether children can be distracted by linguistic competitors during a non-linguistic visual search task. Though less robust compared to what has been previously observed with adults, we find evidence of phonological competition in children as young as 8 years old. Furthermore, the extent of language activation is predicted by individual differences in linguistic, visual, and domain-general cognitive abilities, with the greatest phonological competition observed among children with strong language abilities combined with weaker visual memory and inhibitory control. We propose that linguistic expertise is fundamental to the development of language-mediated visual search, but that the rate and degree of automatic language activation depends on interactions among a broader network of cognitive abilities.

Because learning a second language (L2) is difficult, manylearners start with easy words that look like their native lan-guage (L1) to jumpstart their vocabulary. However, this ap-proach may not be the most effective strategy in the long-term,compared to introducing difficult L2 vocabulary early on. Weexamined how L1 similarity affects pattern learning in L2 byteaching English monolinguals either an Englishlike or Non-Englishlike artificial language that contained repeated patterns.We found that the first words that individuals learned in anL2 influenced which words they acquired next. Specifically,learning a new word in one session made it easier to acquirea similar word in the next session. L2-similarity interactedwith L1-similarity, so that words that looked more like Englishwere easier to learn at first, but they were less effective at in-fluencing later word learning. This demonstrates that althoughnative language similarity has a beneficial effect early on, itmay hinder long-term learning by decreasing recognition of re-peated patterns within a second language. This surprising find-ing demonstrates that making early learning easier may not bethe most effective long-term strategy. Learning difficult vocab-ulary teaches the learner what makes the new language unique,and this general language knowledge about language structureis more valuable than the words themselves. We suggest thatdifficulties during learning are not always to be avoided, as ad-ditional effort early on can pay later dividends.

Using an eye-tracking paradigm, we examined the strengthand speed of access to lexical knowledge (e.g., ourrepresentation of the word dog in our mental vocabulary) andsemantic knowledge (e.g., our knowledge that a dog isassociated with a leash) via both spoken words (e.g., “dog”)and characteristic sounds (e.g., a dog’s bark). Results showthat both spoken words and characteristic sounds activatelexical and semantic knowledge, but with different patterns.Spoken words activate lexical knowledge faster thancharacteristic sounds do, but with the same strength. Incontrast, characteristic sounds access semantic knowledgestronger than spoken words do, but with the same speed.These findings reveal similarities and differences in theactivation of conceptual knowledge by verbal and non-verbalmeans and advance our understanding of how auditory inputis cognitively processed.

Can input in one sensory modality strengthen memory in adifferent sensory modality? To address this question, weasked participants to encode images presented in variouslocations (e.g., a depicted dog in the top left corner of thescreen) while they heard spatially uninformative sounds.Some of these sounds matched the image (e.g., the word“dog” or a barking sound) while others did not. In asubsequent memory test, participants were better atremembering the locations of images that were encoded witha matching sound, even though these sounds were spatiallyuninformative – an effect that was mediated by whether thesounds were verbal or non-verbal. Because the sounds did notprovide any relevant location information, better spatialmemory cannot be attributed to auditory memory; rather, it isattributed to visual memory being strengthened by thematching auditory input. These findings provide the firstbehavioral evidence for cross-modal interactions in memory.

Learning a new language involves significant vocabulary ac-quisition. Learners can accelerate this process by relying onwords with native-language overlap, such as cognates. Forbilingual third language learners, it is necessary to determinehow their two existing languages interact during novel lan-guage learning. A scaffolding account predicts transfer fromeither language for individual words, whereas an accumula-tion account predicts cumulative transfer from both languages.To compare these accounts, twenty English-German bilingualadults were taught an artificial language containing 48 novelwritten words that varied orthogonally in English and Germanwordlikeness (neighborhood size and orthotactic probability).Wordlikeness in each language improved word production ac-curacy, and similarity to one language provided the same bene-fit as dual-language overlap. In addition, participants’ memoryfor novel words was affected by the statistical distributions ofletters in the novel language. Results indicate that bilingualsutilize both languages during third language acquisition, sup-porting a scaffolding learning model.

The traditional language switch hypothesis, according to which bihnguals can selectively activate and deactivate either language, has been repeatedly challenged in recent studies. In particular, an eyetracking experiment investigating spoken language processing suggests that bilinguals maintain both languages active in parallel even during monolingual input. The present study extends this finding to circumstances exhibiting between-language competition, within-language competition, or both. In this experiment, we find evidence for lexical items in the first language interfering with processing of the second language. We find that, in addition to competing activation between languages, bilinguals (like monolinguals) encounter competition within languages. Moreover, the results suggest that when simultaneous competition is encountered from items in both languages, within-language competition may be stronger than between-language competition. It appears that a bilingual's irrelevant language continues to be processed even when not actively used. However, this phenomenon is considerably influenced by language mode, even when such variables as word frequency, phonetic overlap, and language preference are taken into account.

Research with bilinguals may provide insights into the complex relationship between autobiographical memory and language. The present paper suggests existence of language-dependent memory, where linguistic factors at the time of recall influence memory retrieval. In two experiments, Russian-English bilingual immigrants were interviewed using the word-prompt technique. In the first experiment, bilinguals retrieved more autobiographical memories when there was a match between language of recall and language of encoding than when there was a mismatch. More memories from the period before immigration were recalled in Russian than in English and more memories from the United States were recalled in English than in Russian. To examine the mechanisms underlying these results, the ambiance language and the word-prompt language were considered separately in the second experiment. Both the linguistic ambiance and the word prompt were found to influence recall of autobiographical memories. These results, and particularly the effect of linguistic ambiance on recall, suggest language-dependent memory.

Parallel language activation in bilinguals leads to competition between languages. Experience managing this interference may aid novel language learning by improving the ability to suppress competition from known languages. To investigate the effect of bilingualism on the ability to control native-language interference, monolinguals and bilinguals were taught an artificial language designed to elicit between-language competition. Partial activation of interlingual competitors was assessed with eye-tracking and mouse-tracking during a word recognition task in the novel language. Eye-tracking results showed that monolinguals looked at competitors more than bilinguals, and for a longer duration of time. Mouse-tracking results showed that monolinguals' mouse movements were attracted to native-language competitors, whereas bilinguals overcame competitor interference by increasing the activation of target items. Results suggest that bilinguals manage cross-linguistic interference more effectively than monolinguals. We conclude that language interference can affect lexical retrieval, but bilingualism may reduce this interference by facilitating access to a newly learned language. (Contains 2 tables, 5 figures, and 4 notes.)

Learning how to speak a second language (i.e., becoming a bilingual) and learning how to play a musical instrument (i.e., becoming a musician) are both thought to increase executive control through experience-dependent plasticity. However, evidence supporting this effect is mixed for bilingualism and limited for musicianship. In addition, the combined effects of bilingualism and musicianship on executive control are unknown. To determine whether bilingualism, musicianship, and combined bilingualism and musicianship improve executive control, we tested 219 young adults belonging to one of four groups (bilinguals, musicians, bilingual musicians, and controls) on a nonlinguistic, nonmusical, visual-spatial Simon task that measured the ability to ignore an irrelevant and misinformative cue. Results revealed that bilinguals, musicians, and bilingual musicians showed an enhanced ability to ignore a distracting cue relative to controls, with similar levels of superior performance among bilinguals, musicians, and bilingual musicians. These results indicate that bilingualism and musicianship improve executive control and have implications for educational and rehabilitation programs that use music and foreign language instruction to boost cognitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics is the property of Universidade de Vigo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Every day, multilinguals around the world make important healthcare decisions while using a foreign language. The present study examined how the use of a native vs. non-native language shapes evaluations and decisions about preventative care. Bilinguals were randomly assigned to evaluate a series of medical scenarios in either their native or non-native language. Each scenario described potential adverse effects of a medical condition and a preventative treatment, as well as the population risk of disease- or treatment-related complications. Participants judged the perceived negativity and likelihood of experiencing adverse effects and indicated how willing they would be to accept the preventative treatment. We found that bilinguals using a foreign language perceived disease symptoms and treatment side effects to be less negative than those using their native tongue. Foreign language users were also more likely to account for the objective risks associated with medical conditions and treatments when making decisions about preventative care. We conclude that the use of a native vs. foreign language changes how people evaluate the consequences of accepting and declining preventative treatment, with potential implications for millions of providers and patients who routinely make medical choices in their non-native tongue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]