scholarly journals Bilingual access of homonym meanings: Individual differences in bilingual access of homonym meanings

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 639-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANA BEATRIZ ARÊAS DA LUZ FONTES ◽  
ANA ISABEL SCHWARTZ
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Language Form ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Speed And Accuracy

The goal of the present study was to identify the cognitive processes that underlie lexical ambiguity resolution in a second language (L2). We examined which cognitive factors predict the efficiency in accessing subordinate meanings of L2 homonyms in a sample of highly-proficient, Spanish–English bilinguals. The predictive ability of individual differences in (1) homonym processing in the L1, (2) working memory capacity and (3) sensitivity to cross-language form overlap were examined. In two experiments, participants were presented with cognate and noncognate homonyms as either a prime in a lexical decision task (Experiment 1) or embedded in a sentence (Experiment 2). In both experiments speed and accuracy in accessing subordinate meanings in the L1 was the strongest predictor of speed and accuracy in accessing subordinate meanings in the L2. Sensitivity to cross-language form overlap predicted performance in lexical decision while working memory capacity predicted processing in sentence comprehension.

Working Memory Capacity and Individual Differences in the Making of Reinstatement and Elaborative Inferences

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Barreyro ◽  
Jazmín Cevasco ◽  
Débora Burín ◽  
Carlos Molinari Marotto
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Decision Times ◽  
Target Words

This study investigated the role of working memory capacity on the making of reinstatement and causal elaborative inferences during the reading of natural texts. In order to determine participants' working memory capacity, they were asked to take the reading span task before they took part in the study. Those participants that were identified as high or low working memory capacity readers were asked to perform a lexical decision task in two conditions: pre-inference and inference. In the pre-inference condition, target words representing reinstatement or causal elaborative inferences were presented immediately before the sentences that were predicted to prompt them. In the inference condition, the target words were presented immediately after the sentences that were predicted to prompt the inferences. Results indicated that, for the high working memory capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations for both types of inferences. In the case of low working capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations only for reinstatement inferences. These findings suggest that working memory capacity plays a role in the making of causal inferences during the comprehension of natural texts.

Exploring the Similarity Between Implicit and Explicit Prosody: Prosodic Phrasing and Individual Differences

2020 ◽  
pp. 002383092097273
Author(s):  
Jason Bishop
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Silent Reading ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Prosodic Phrasing ◽  
Prosodic Phrase ◽  
Implicit Prosody ◽  
Implicit Prosody Hypothesis

In recent years, work carried out in the context of the implicit prosody hypothesis (IPH) has called into question the assumption that implicit (i.e., silently generated) prosody and explicit (overtly produced) prosody are similar in form. Focusing on prosodic phrasing, the present study explored this issue using an individual differences approach, and using methods that do not rely on the sentence comprehension tests characteristic of work within the IPH program. A large group of native English speakers participated in a production experiment intended to identify individual differences in average prosodic phrase length, phonologically defined. We then explored whether these (explicit) prosodic differences were related to two other kinds of variation, each with a connection to implicit prosody. First, we tested whether individual differences in explicit prosodic phrase length were predicted by individual differences in working memory capacity, a relationship that has been established for implicit prosody. Second, we explored whether participants’ explicit prosodic phrase lengths were predictive of their behavior in a silent-reading task in which they had to identify their own implicit prosodic groupings. In both cases, the findings are argued to be consistent with a similarity between explicit and implicit prosody. First, participants with higher working memory capacity (as estimated by reading spans) were associated with longer prosodic phrases. Second, participants who produced longer explicit prosodic phrases in speech tended to report generating longer prosodic phrases in silent reading. Implications for the nature of implicit prosody, and how it can be studied, are discussed.

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