Cognitive Control and Bilingualism: The Bilingual Advantage Through the Lens of Dimensional Overlap

Past research shows that the bilingual experience may enhance cognitive executive function. In this experiment, we evaluated cognitive control in bilinguals relative to monolinguals by using a dimensional overlap model to predict performance in a task composed of Stroop and Simon stimuli. A group of 24 Spanish monolinguals and 24 bilinguals with differing first languages and all having Spanish as a second language (L2) did a picture naming task and a task composed of Stroop and Simon stimuli, where the effect of different overlap conditions (spatial/color) between stimuli and responses were examined. The tasks were performed in Spanish for both groups and performance was indexed with behavioral and electrophysiological measures. We hypothesized that the bilinguals’ daily language practice in L2 reflected overlap conditions similar to the Simon task. Both naming a picture in L2 and the Simon task would involve conflict at the response level. L2 picture naming entails interference between two potential oral responses, to name in L2 vs. L1 (correct vs. incorrect responses, respectively). Similarly, incongruent stimuli in the Simon task produce interference because the irrelevant dimension (spatial location) overlap with an incorrect response. In contrast, the manual Stroop task involves a different type of conflict between two overlapping stimulus dimensions (the ink color and the color meaning). We predicted for these reasons a superior performance in Simon tasks over Stroop tasks for bilinguals, while monolinguals were expected to have a similar performance in both tasks. We also expected to see a correlation between the performance on the picture naming task and the Simon task in bilinguals. However, the behavioral results did not confirm these hypotheses. In fact, both groups had similar congruency effects as measured by reaction times and error rates, and there was no correlation between the picture naming and Simon task in bilinguals. Despite this, the electrophysiological data suggested a relationship between the picture naming task and the P300 congruency effect in bilinguals. Our findings provide insights into the neurocognitive bases of language and serve as a research avenue for language behaviors in bilinguals.Spanish Government PID2019-111359GB-I00/SRA State Research Agency/10.13039/50110001103

Ambiguous Sentence Processing in Translation

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a grant awarded to Pedro Macizo by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2019-111359GB-I00/SRA State Research Agency/10.13039/501100011033) . The study was undertaken in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and followed the ethical standards delineated by this journal and by the Ethical Committee of the University of Granada (number issued by the Ethical Committee:957/CEIH/2019) and each participant provided written informed consent before taking part in the experiment.The goal of our research was to explore the possible online co-activation of both the target language (TL) syntactic structure representation and TL attachment strategies in translation, and to look over a possible interaction between both syntactic properties. To this purpose, Spanish (L1) – English (L2) bilinguals were instructed to read complex noun phrases with an ambiguous relative clause in Spanish to either repeat them in Spanish or translate them into English. The final word of the sentences and the syntactic congruency between the source language (SL) and TL syntactic structure were manipulated. The results revealed co-activation of both TL syntactic properties: participants interpreted sentences more accordingly to the TL preferred strategy (low attachment) in the reading for translation task, read congruent sentences faster, and used the TL preferred interpretation strategy in the congruent condition of the sentences more. These results indicated TL activation at different syntactic levels during comprehension of the SL in translation.Spanish Government PID2019-111359GB-I00/SR

The processing of prices across numerical formats

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by a grant awarded to Pedro Macizo by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2019-111359GB-I00 / SRA State Research Agency /10.130 39/501100011033). The study was undertaken in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration. The Ethics Committee at the University of Granada approved the experimental procedures (Number issued by the Ethical Committee: 957/CEIH/2019) and each participant provided written informed consent before taking part in the experiment. In order to comply with APA Ethics Code Standard 8.14a (sharing research data for verification), the stimuli, experimental procedure, data and analyses reported in this manuscript have been stored in a freely accessible repository (reference links have been indicated in the manuscript). The authors declare no conflict of interest.We evaluated whether the format in which prices are presented determines the processing of their magnitude. A price comparison task was used in which two-digit prices with Arabic digits, written number words and auditory number words were presented in the euro currency. Prices were number-monetary category (NMC) compatible (49 euros - 36 cents) when the number and monetary category of one price were larger than those of the other (49 > 36, euros > cents); or NMC incompatible (49 cents - 36 euros) when the number of one price was larger but the monetary category smaller than those of the other (49 > 36, cents 3, 9 > 6); and UD incompatible prices when the decade of one price was larger but the unit smaller than those of the other (46 euros - 39 cents, 4 > 3, 6 < 9). The results showed NMC compatibility effects in all numerical formats. However, the UD compatibility effect was not found in any numerical format. The results are discussed within the hybrid model of multisymbolic magnitude processing.Spanish Government PID2019-111359GB-I00/SRA State Research Agency/10.130 39/50110001103

The value of banknotes: relevance of size, colour and design

In the current study, we evaluate the relevance of three physical features when people retrieve the monetary value of banknotes. To this end, three monetary comparison tasks were designed in which in each trial a pair of banknotes were presented and participants selected the one with higher monetary value. In each task, a different banknote feature (size, colour and design) was examined and a congruent and an incongruent condition (the value of the physical feature corresponded or not to its actual value, respectively) were compared to a neutral condition (no information about the physical feature was provided). We found a pattern of facilitation and interference effects which suggests that size is the most relevant physical feature for accessing the monetary value of banknotes followed by colour. However, the availability of a variety of designs across banknotes seemed not to facilitate the performance of the task, but rather the opposite, hindering the monetary comparison task.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada / CBUA. This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Reference of the project: PID2019-111359 GB-I00/SR

Gestures as Scaffolding to Learn Vocabulary in a Foreign Language

This paper investigates the influence of gestures on foreign language (FL) vocabulary learning. In this work, we first address the state of the art in the field and then delve into the research conducted in our lab (three experiments already published) in order to finally offer a unified theoretical interpretation of the role of gestures in FL vocabulary learning. In Experiments 1 and 2, we examined the impact of gestures on noun and verb learning. The results revealed that participants exhibited better learning outcomes when FL words were accompanied by congruent gestures compared to those from the no-gesture condition. Conversely, when meaningless or incongruent gestures were presented alongside new FL words, gestures had a detrimental effect on the learning process. Secondly, we addressed the question of whether or not individuals need to physically perform the gestures themselves to observe the effects of gestures on vocabulary learning (Experiment 3). Results indicated that congruent gestures improved FL word recall when learners only observed the instructor’s gestures (“see” group) and when they mimicked them (“do” group). Importantly, the adverse effect associated with incongruent gestures was reduced in the “do” compared to that in the “see” experimental group. These findings suggest that iconic gestures can serve as an effective tool for learning vocabulary in an FL, particularly when the gestures align with the meaning of the words. Furthermore, the active performance of gestures helps counteract the negative effects associated with inconsistencies between gestures and word meanings. Consequently, if a choice must be made, an FL learning strategy in which learners acquire words while making gestures congruent with their meaning would be highly desirable.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness grant PSI2016-75250-PSpanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2019-111359GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

The impact of bilingualism in within-language conflict resolution: an ERP study

We compared Spanish (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals and Spanish monolinguals in a semantic judgment relationship task in L1 that produced within-language conflict due to the coactivation of the two meanings of a Spanish homophone (e.g., “hola” and “ola” meaning “hello” and “a wave” in English). In this task, participants indicated if pairs of words were related or not (“agua-hola,” “waterhello”). Conflict arose because a word (“agua,” “water”) not related to the orthographic form of a homophone (“hola,” “hello”) was related to the alternative orthographic form (“ola,” “wave”). Compared to a control condition with unrelated word pairs (“peluche-hola,” “teddy-hello”), the behavioral results revealed greater behavioral interference in monolinguals compared to bilinguals. In addition, electrophysiological results revealed N400 differences between monolinguals and bilinguals. These results are discussed around the impact of bilingualism on conflict resolution.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2019- 111359GBI00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

The influence of expertise in simultaneous interpreting on non-verbal executive processes

This study aimed to explore non-verbal executive processes in simultaneous interpreters. Simultaneous interpreters, bilinguals without any training in simultaneous interpreting, and control monolinguals performed the Wisconsin card sorting task (WCST, Experiment 1) and the Simon task (Experiment 2). Performance on WCST was thought to index cognitive flexibility while Simon task performance was considered an index of inhibitory processes. Simultaneous interpreters outperformed bilinguals and monolinguals on the WCST by showing reduced number of attempts to infer the rule, few errors, and few previous-category perseverations. However, simultaneous interpreters presented Simon effects similar to those found in bilinguals and monolinguals. Together, these results suggest that experience in interpreting is associated with changes in control processes required to perform interpreting tasks.SEJ2005-00842Ramón y CajalPSI2009-11094/PSIEDU2008-01111CSD2008-00048 Consolider Ingenio 2010 from the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish GovernmentProyecto de Excelencia de la JA-2007 y JA-2008_HUM 360

Disentangling the role of deviant letter position on cognate word processing

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found at: https://osf.io/mqhu5/?view_only=94cdf0d86e0b4e7e8b2757e33f6a78ce.The way of coding letter position has been extensively assessed during the recognition of native words, leading to the development of a new generation of models that assume more flexible letter position coding schemes compared to classical computational models such as the interactive activation (IA) model. However, determining whether similar letter position encoding mechanisms occur during the bilingual word recognition has been largely less explored despite its implications for the leading model of bilingual word recognition (multilink) as it assumes the input-coding scheme of the IA model. In this study, we aimed to examine this issue through the manipulation of the position of the deviant letter of cognate words (external and internal letters). Two experiments were conducted with Catalan-Spanish bilinguals (a masked priming lexical decision task and a two-alternative forced-choice task) and their respective monolingual controls. The results revealed a differential processing for the first letter in comparison to the other letters as well as modulations as a function of language cue, suggesting amendments to the input-coding scheme of the multilink model.This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Center (CIPsi/UM), School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653. This was been also funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PCIN-2015-165-C02-02 and MINECO/FEDER), by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (RED2018-102615-T), and by the Research Promotion Program of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (2018PFR-URV-B2-32)

Comprehension and error monitoring in simultaneous interpreters

In the current study we explored lexical, syntactic, and semantic processes during text comprehension in English monolinguals and Spanish/English (first language/second language) bilinguals with different experience in interpreting (nontrained bilinguals, interpreting students and professional interpreters). The participants performed an error-detection task in which they read English texts and tried to identify lexical, syntactic, and semantic errors embedded in texts. After reading, global comprehension of the texts was assessed by means of a sentence verification task and open/ended questionnaire. The results showed that the interpreters detected more syntactic and semantic errors than monolinguals, nontrained bilinguals and interpreting students. They also had better global comprehension. We discussed the consequences of bilingualism, working memory capacity, and training in interpreting on text comprehension

PROCESAMIENTO DE LA INFORMACIÓN EN TAREAS DE COMPRENSIÓN ORAL: CUANDO LA INTERPRETACIÓN MARCA LA DIFERENCIA

The aim of our work is twofold: to study how interpreters process information during understanding, and to ascertain the function of working memory in this process. In our experiment, professional interpreters carried out tasks of monolingual paraphrasing and interpreting, in order to determine the effect of the linguistic components of the source language  in understanding.  The complexity  of syntactic  information  was manipulated  in the oral material.  On comparing  the two tasks,  results  indicate  that on-line  understanding  is slower under listening  conditions  while code-switching,  as the demand  on working  memory  increases.  Our conclusions  are that understanding is determined and varied depending on the aim of listening, and that demands on working memory increase in translation tasks.El  objetivo  de  nuestro  estudio  es  doble:  indagar  en  cómo  los  intérpretes procesan  la información  en tareas de comprensión  cuando  escuchan  para traducir  y comprobar  la función de la memoria  de trabajo en este proceso. En nuestro experimento, intérpretes profesionales realizan tareas de reformulación monolingüe y tareas de interpretación  con el fin de determinar  el efecto de los componentes  lingüísticos de la lengua  origen  en la comprensión  durante  la realización  de estas  tareas.  Para ello se manipula  la complejidad  sintáctica  del material  oral  usado. Al comparar  la tarea  de  interpretación  con  la  tarea  de  reformulación  monolingüe  se  comprueba que  la  comprensión  on-line es  más  lenta  bajo  condiciones  de  escucha  cuando  se orienta  hacia  un cambio  de código  para  traducir  ya que se incrementa  la carga  de procesamiento  sobre  la memoria.  Los resultados  sugieren  que  la comprensión  está determinada  y varía dependiendo  del objetivo  que marca  la escucha,  y que las de- mandas  de memoria  de trabajo  son mayores  en tareas  de traducción  que en tareas de reformulación  monolingüe