Bilinguals on the garden-path: Individual differences in syntactic ambiguity resolution

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Trevor Brothers ◽  
Liv J Hoversten ◽  
Matthew J Traxler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Verb Subcategorization

Abstract Syntactic parsing plays a central role in the interpretation of sentences, but it is unclear to what extent non-native speakers can deploy native-like grammatical knowledge during online comprehension. The current eye-tracking study investigated how Chinese–English bilinguals and native English speakers respond to syntactic category and subcategorization information while reading sentences with object-subject ambiguities. We also obtained measures of English language experience, working memory capacity, and executive function to determine how these cognitive variables influence online parsing. During reading, monolinguals and bilinguals showed similar garden-path effects related to syntactic reanalysis, but native English speakers responded more robustly to verb subcategorization cues. Readers with greater language experience and executive function showed increased sensitivity to verb subcategorization cues, but parsing was not influenced by working memory capacity. These results are consistent with exposure-based accounts of bilingual sentence processing, and they support a link between syntactic processing and domain-general cognitive control.

The effects of transliterations, thematic organization, and working memory on adult L2 vocabulary learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison M. Tseng ◽  
Martin C. Doppelt ◽  
Natasha Tokowicz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Arabic Translation ◽  
Lexical Representations ◽  
Translation Accuracy ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

Abstract We examine how L2 vocabulary learning is affected by the information provided to the learner during training, organization of the to-be-learned vocabulary, and working memory capacity of the learner. Native English speakers were taught Arabic vocabulary in seven sessions, during which they heard L1 (English)-L2 (Arabic) translation pairs. Training was manipulated between participants by crossing the presence vs. absence of a transliteration and thematic vs. random organization of vocabulary. Session, working memory capacity, transliteration condition, and organization condition interacted in English-Arabic translation accuracy. Participants with lower working memory capacity performed best in the transliteration-thematic organization condition, whereas participants with higher working memory performed best in the transliteration-random organization and no transliteration-thematic organization conditions. Translation RT and free recall were not related to working memory, and were best in the transliteration conditions. Results suggest that adult L2 vocabulary learning is aided by exploiting well-established spelling-sound connections to improve L2 lexical representations.

Individual differences in lexical repetition priming: the combined influence of language, mood and working memory capacity.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas Pautz ◽  
Kevin Durrheim
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Repetition Priming ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Word Stem Completion

Individual differences in repetition priming is an often-overlooked area of research. The importance of this neglect becomes evident when considering the criticisms that priming research has received in the last decade concerning reliability. The current researched aimed to investigate whether individual differences in working memory capacity and affective states have differential effects on lexical-semantic repetition priming outcomes based on whether participants were first or second English speakers. Using logistic mixed-effects models to account for subject variation, the current paper investigated a three-way interaction between working memory capacity, negative affect score, and language on repetition priming outcomes. The results indicate that a statistically significant three-way interaction exists. We present an argument which posits that an individual’s primary language and subsequent familiarity with the primed concepts, in conjunction with individual differences in working memory capacity and mood, plays an important role in determining the most effective strategy used to complete a word-stem completion task.

Exercise and Working Memory: An Individual Differences Investigation

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Sibley ◽  
Sian L. Beilock
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Treadmill Exercise ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Exercise Session ◽  
Baseline Session ◽  
Acute Bout ◽  
The Impact

In the current work we asked whether executive function, as measured by tests of working memory capacity, might benefit from an acute bout of exercise and, more specifically, whether individuals who are lower or higher in working memory to begin with would be more or less affected by an exercise manipulation. Healthy adults completed working memory measures in a nonexercise (baseline) session and immediately following a 30-min self-paced bout of exercise on a treadmill (exercise session). Sessions were conducted 1 week apart and session order was counterbalanced across participants. A significant Session × Working Memory interaction was obtained such that only those individuals lowest in working memory benefited from the exercise manipulation. This work suggests that acute bouts of exercise may be most beneficial for healthy adults whose cognitive performance is generally the lowest, and it demonstrates that the impact of exercise on cognition is not uniform across all individuals.

Construct operationalization, L1 effects, and context in second language processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN JUFFS
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
First Language ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Second Language Processing

Cunnings (2016) provides welcome insights into differences between native speaker (NS) sentence processing, adult non-native speaker processing (NNS), and working memory capacity (WMC) limitations. This commentary briefly raises three issues: construct operationalization; the role of first language (L1); and context.

scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Syntactic Ambiguity in Sentence Comprehension for Low and High Span Readers

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 1562-1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian J. Fiebach ◽  
Sandra H. Vos ◽  
Angela D. Friederici
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Syntactic Ambiguity ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Processing Demands ◽  
Superior Portion

Syntactically ambiguous sentences have been found to be difficult to process, in particular, for individuals with low working memory capacity. The current study used fMRI to investigate the neural basis of this effect in the processing of written sentences. Participants with high and low working memory capacity read sentences with either a short or long region of temporary syntactic ambiguity while being scanned. A distributed left-dominant network in the peri-sylvian region was identified to support sentence processing in the critical region of the sentence. Within this network, only the superior portion of Broca's area (BA 44) and a parietal region showed an activation increase as a function of the length of the syntactically ambiguous region in the sentence. Furthermore, it was only the BA 44 region that exhibited an interaction of working memory span, length of the syntactic ambiguity, and sentence complexity. In this area, the activation increase for syntactically more complex sentences became only significant under longer regions of ambiguity, and for low span readers only. This finding suggests that neural activity in BA 44 increases during sentence comprehension when processing demands increase, be it due to syntactic processing demands or by an interaction with the individually available working memory capacity.

Working Memory Capacity and Island Constraint in Sentence Processing

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Traxler ◽  
Robin K. Morris ◽  
Rachel E. Seeley ◽  
Rihanna S. Williams ◽  
Melissa Parisot
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity
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