Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:04:31.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Concurrent verbal working memory load constrains cross-linguistic translation activation: A visual world eye-tracking study on Hindi–English bilinguals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2020

Seema Prasad  and
Ramesh Kumar Mishra
Seema Prasad
Affiliation:
Center for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hyderabad
Ramesh Kumar Mishra*
Affiliation:
Center for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hyderabad
*
Address for correspondence: Ramesh Kumar Mishra, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Does a concurrent verbal working memory (WM) load constrain cross-linguistic activation? In a visual world study, participants listened to Hindi (L1) or English (L2) spoken words and viewed a display containing the phonological cohort of the translation equivalent (TE cohort) of the spoken word and 3 distractors. Experiment 1 was administered without a load. Participants then maintained two or four letters (Experiment 2) or two, six or eight letters (Experiment 3) in WM and were tested on backward sequence recognition after the visual world display. Greater looks towards TE cohorts were observed in both the language directions in Experiment 1. With a load, TE cohort activation was inhibited in the L2 – L1 direction and observed only in the early stages after word onset in the L1 – L2 direction suggesting a critical role of language direction. These results indicate that cross-linguistic activation as seen through eye movements depends on cognitive resources such as WM.

Keywords

Working memory loadbilingualcross-linguistic language activationvisual worldeye movements
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 241 - 270
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altmann, GT and Kamide, Y (2007) The real-time mediation of visual attention by language and world knowledge: Linking anticipatory (and other) eye movements to linguistic processing. Journal of Memory and Language 57, 502–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arenberg, D (1973) Cognition and aging: Verbal learning, memory and problem solving. In Eisdorfer, C and Lawton, MP (eds), The psychology of adult development and aging. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 74–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barr, DJ (2008) Analyzing ‘visual world'eyetracking data using multilevel logistic regression. Journal of Memory and Language 59, 457–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, D, Maechler, M, Bolker, B and Walker, S (2015) lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version 1.1–7. 2014.Google Scholar
Bhatia, D, Prasad, SG, Sake, K and Mishra, RK (2017) Task Irrelevant External Cues Can Influence Language Selection in Voluntary Object Naming: Evidence from Hindi–English Bilinguals. PloS One 12, e0169284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blumenfeld, HK and Marian, V (2013) Parallel language activation and cognitive control during spoken word recognition in bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 25, 547–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brysbaert, M and Duyck, W (2010) Is it time to leave behind the Revised Hierarchical Model of bilingual language processing after fifteen years of service?. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 13, 359–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brysbaert, M, Buchmeier, M, Conrad, M, Jacobs, AM, Bölte, J and Böhl, A (2011) The word frequency effect: A review of recent developments and implications for the choice of frequency estimates in German. Experimental Psychology 58, 412–424.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brysbaert, M, Stevens, M, Mandera, P and Keuleers, E (2016) How many words do we know? Practical estimates of vocabulary size dependent on word definition, the degree of language input and the participant's age. Frontiers in Psychology 7, 1116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burke, DM and Light, LL (1981) Memory and aging: The role of retrieval processes. Psychological Bulletin 90, 513.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Canseco-Gonzalez, E, Brehm, L, Brick, CA, Brown-Schmidt, S, Fischer, K and Wagner, K (2010) Carpet or carcel: The effect of age of acquisition and language mode on bilingual lexical access. Language and Cognitive Processes 25, 669–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christoffels, IK, De Groot, AM and Kroll, JF (2006) Memory and language skills in simultaneous interpreters: The role of expertise and language proficiency. Journal of Memory and Language 54, 324–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijkstra, T and Van Heuven, WJ (2002) The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 5, 175–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijkstra, T, Wahl, A, Buytenhuijs, F, Van Halem, N, Al-Jibouri, Z, De Korte, M and Rekké, S (2019) Multilink: a computational model for bilingual word recognition and word translation. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 22, 657–679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duyck, W and Brysbaert, M (2004) Forward and backward number translation requires conceptual mediation in both balanced and unbalanced bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 30, 889.Google ScholarPubMed
Gimenes, M and New, B (2016) Worldlex: Twitter and blog word frequencies for 66 languages. Behavior Research Methods 48, 963–972.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hadar, B, Skrzypek, JE, Wingfield, A and Ben-David, BM (2016) Working memory load affects processing time in spoken word recognition: evidence from eye-movements. Frontiers in Neuroscience 10, 221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hariprasad, VR, Koparde, V, Sivakumar, PT, Varambally, S, Thirthalli, J, Varghese, M, Basavaraddi, IV and Gangadhar, BN (2013) Randomized clinical trial of yoga-based intervention in residents from elderly homes: Effects on cognitive function. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 55(Suppl 3), S357.Google ScholarPubMed
Hothorn, T, Bretz, F and Westfall, P (2008) Simultaneous inference in general parametric models. Biometrical Journal 50, 346–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoshino, N and Kroll, JF (2008) Cognate effects in picture naming: Does cross-language activation survive a change of script? Cognition 106, 501–511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huettig, F and Altmann, GT (2005) Word meaning and the control of eye fixation: Semantic competitor effects and the visual world paradigm. Cognition 96, B23–B32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huettig, F and McQueen, JM (2007) The tug of war between phonological, semantic and shape information in language-mediated visual search. Journal of Memory and Language 57, 460–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huettig, F, Olivers, CN and Hartsuiker, RJ (2011a) Looking, language, and memory: Bridging research from the visual world and visual search paradigms. Acta Psychologica 137, 138–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huettig, F, Rommers, J and Meyer, AS (2011b) Using the visual world paradigm to study language processing: A review and critical evaluation. Acta Psychologica 137, 151–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huettig, F and Janse, E (2016) Individual differences in working memory and processing speed predict anticipatory spoken language processing in the visual world. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 31, 80–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ito, A, Corley, M and Pickering, MJ (2018) A cognitive load delays predictive eye movements similarly during L1 and L2 comprehension. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 21(2) 251–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ju, M and Luce, PA (2004) Falling on sensitive ears constraints on bilingual lexical activation. Psychological Science 15, 314–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kapiley, K and Mishra, RK (2018) Iconic culture-specific images influence language non-selective translation activation in bilinguals. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 1, 221–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kapiley, K and Mishra, RK (2019) What do I choose? Influence of interlocutor awareness on bilingual language choice during voluntary object naming. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 22, 1029–1051.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knoeferle, P and Crocker, MW (2006) The coordinated interplay of scene, utterance, and world knowledge: Evidence from eye tracking. Cognitive Science 30, 481–529.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kroll, JF and Stewart, E (1994) Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language 33, 149–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroll, JF, Michael, E, Tokowicz, N and Dufour, R (2002) The development of lexical fluency in a second language. Second Language Research 18, 137–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroll, JF and Ma, F (2018) The bilingual lexicon. In Fernández, EM and Cairns, HS (eds), Blackwell handbooks in linguistics. The handbook of psycholinguistics. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 294–319.Google Scholar
Lagrou, E, Hartsuiker, RJ and Duyck, W (2011) Knowledge of a second language influences auditory word recognition in the native language. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 37, 952.Google ScholarPubMed
Luke, SG (2017) Evaluating significance in linear mixed-effects models in R. Behavior Research Methods 49, 1494–1502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marian, V, Spivey, M and Hirsch, J (2003) Shared and separate systems in bilingual language processing: Converging evidence from eyetracking and brain imaging. Brain and Language 86, 70–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marty, P, Chemla, E and Spector, B (2013) Interpreting numerals and scalar items under memory load. Lingua 133, 152–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercier, J, Pivneva, I and Titone, D (2014) Individual differences in inhibitory control relate to bilingual spoken word processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17, 89–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, RK (2009) Interaction of language and visual attention: evidence from production and comprehension. Progress in Brain Research 176, 277–292.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mishra, RK, Olivers, CN and Huettig, F (2013) Spoken language and the decision to move the eyes: To what extent are language-mediated eye movements automatic? In Progress in Brain Research 202, 135–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mishra, RK and Singh, N (2014) Language non-selective activation of orthography during spoken word processing in Hindi–English sequential bilinguals: an eye tracking visual world study. Reading and Writing 27, 129–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, RK and Singh, N (2016) The influence of second language proficiency on bilingual parallel language activation in Hindi–English bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 28, 396–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, RK (2019) A few suggestions on broadening the cross-linguistic relevance of the Multilink model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 22, 691–692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monaghan, P, Chang, YN, Welbourne, S and Brysbaert, M (2017) Exploring the relations between word frequency, language exposure, and bilingualism in a computational model of reading. Journal of Memory and Language 93, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monsell, S, Doyle, MC and Haggard, PN (1989) Effects of frequency on visual word recognition tasks: Where are they? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 118, 43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poarch, GJ, Van Hell, JG and Kroll, JF (2015) Accessing word meaning in beginning second language learners: Lexical or conceptual mediation?. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 18, 357–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prasad, S, Viswambharan, S and Mishra, R (2019) Visual working memory load constrains language non-selective activation under task-demands. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.18045.praGoogle Scholar
Pickering, MJ and Garrod, S (2013) An integrated theory of language production and comprehension. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 36, 329–347.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rao, SL, Subbakrishna, DK and Gopukumar, K (2004) NIMHANS neuropsychology battery 2004, manual. National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences.Google Scholar
Roychoudhuri, KS, Prasad, SG and Mishra, RK (2016) Iconic native culture cues inhibit second language production in a non-immigrant population: Evidence from Bengali-English bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology 7, 1516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salverda, AP and Tanenhaus, MK (2010) Tracking the time course of orthographic information in spoken-word recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 36, 1108.Google ScholarPubMed
Schonfield, D and Robertson, BA (1966) Memory storage and aging. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie 20, 228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shook, A and Marian, V (2013) The bilingual language interaction network for comprehension of speech. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 16, 304–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soto, D, Heinke, D, Humphreys, GW and Blanco, MJ (2005) Early, involuntary top-down guidance of attention from working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 31, 248.Google ScholarPubMed
Spivey, MJ and Marian, V (1999) Cross talk between native and second languages: Partial activation of an irrelevant lexicon. Psychological Science 10, 281–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spreen, O and Strauss, E (1998) Controlled oral word association (FAS). In Spreen, O and Strauss, E (eds), A compendium of neuropsychological tests. New York: Oxford University, 447–64.Google Scholar
Sunderman, G and Kroll, JF (2006) First language activation during second language lexical processing: An investigation of lexical form, meaning, and grammatical class. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 28, 387–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunderman, GL and Priya, K (2012) Translation recognition in highly proficient Hindi–English bilinguals: The influence of different scripts but connectable phonologies. Language and Cognitive Processes 27, 1265–1285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talamas, A, Kroll, JF and Dufour, R (1999) From form to meaning: Stages in the acquisition of second-language vocabulary. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 2, 45–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanenhaus, MK, Spivey-Knowlton, MJ, Eberhard, KM and Sedivy, JC (1995) Integration of visual and linguistic information in spoken language comprehension. Science 268, 1632–1634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thierry, G and Wu, YJ (2007) Brain potentials reveal unconscious translation during foreign language comprehension. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, 12530–12535.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Hell, JG and Tanner, D (2012) Second language proficiency and cross-language lexical activation. Language Learning 62, 148–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veivo, O, Järvikivi, J, Porretta, V and Hyönä, J (2016) Orthographic activation in L2 spoken word recognition depends on proficiency: evidence from eye-tracking. Frontiers in Psychology 7, 1120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veivo, O, Porretta, V, Hyönä, J and Järvikivi, J (2018) Spoken second language words activate native language orthographic information in late second language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics 39, 1011–1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, A and Cutler, A (2004) Lexical competition in non-native spoken-word recognition. Journal of Memory and Language 50, 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodman, GF and Luck, SJ (2004) Visual search is slowed when visuospatial working memory is occupied. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 11, 269–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed