Parallel language activation and cognitive control during spoken word recognition in bilinguals.
Accounts of bilingual cognitive advantages suggest an associative link between cross-linguistic competition and inhibitory control. We investigate this link by examining English-Spanish bilinguals' parallel language activation during auditory word recognition and nonlinguistic Stroop performance. Thirty-one English-Spanish bilinguals and 30 English monolinguals participated in an eye-tracking study. Participants heard words in English (e.g.,comb) and identified corresponding pictures from a display that included pictures of a Spanish competitor (e.g.,conejo,Englishrabbit). Bilinguals with higher Spanish proficiency showed more parallel language activation and smaller Stroop effects than bilinguals with lower Spanish proficiency. Across all bilinguals,strongerparallel language activation between 300-500ms after word onset was associated with smaller Stroop effects; between 633-767ms,reducedparallel language activation was associated with smaller Stroop effects. Results suggest that bilinguals who perform well on the Stroop task show increased cross-linguistic competitor activation during early stages of word recognition and decreased competitor activation during later stages of word recognition. Findings support the hypothesis that cross-linguistic competition impacts domain-general inhibition.
San Diego State University.
Henrike K
HK
Blumenfeld
Viorica
V
Marian
Parallel language activation; Stroop task; bilingualism; eye-tracking; inhibition