Spoken word processing in bilingual older adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Titone ◽  
Julie Mercier ◽  
Aruna Sudarshan ◽  
Irina Pivneva ◽  
Jason Gullifer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Language Competition ◽  
Cross Language

Abstract We investigated whether bilingual older adults experience within- and cross-language competition during spoken word recognition similarly to younger adults matched on age of second language (L2) acquisition, objective and subjective L2 proficiency, and current L2 exposure. In a visual world eye-tracking paradigm, older and younger adults, who were French-dominant or English-dominant English-French bilinguals, listened to English words, and looked at pictures including the target (field), a within-language competitor (feet) or cross-language (French) competitor (fille, “girl”), and unrelated filler pictures while their eye movements were monitored. Older adults showed evidence of greater within-language competition as a function of increased target and competitor phonological overlap. There was some evidence of age-related differences in cross-language competition, however, it was quite small overall and varied as a function of target language proficiency. These results suggest that greater within- and possibly cross-language lexical competition during spoken word recognition may underlie some of the communication difficulties encountered by healthy bilingual older adults.

scholarly journals Spoken Word Processing in Bilingual Older Adults: Assessing Within-and Cross-Language Competition using the Visual World Task

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Titone ◽  
Jason Gullifer ◽  
Shari Baum
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Language Competition ◽  
Cross Language

We investigated whether bilingual older adults experience within- and cross-language competition during spoken word recognition similarly to younger adults matched on age of second language (L2) acquisition, objective and subjective L2 proficiency, and current L2 exposure. In a visual world eye-tracking paradigm, older and younger adults, who were French-dominant or English-dominant English-French bilinguals, listened to English words, and looked at pictures including the target (field), a within-language competitor (feet) or cross-language (French) competitor (fille, “girl”), and unrelated filler pictures while their eye movements were monitored. Older adults showed evidence of greater within-language competition as a function of increased target and competitor phonological overlap. There was some evidence of age-related differences in cross-language competition, however, it was quite small overall and varied as a function of target language proficiency. These results suggest that greater within- and possibly cross-language lexical competition during spoken word recognition may underlie some of the communication difficulties encountered by healthy bilingual older adults.

Individual differences in inhibitory control relate to bilingual spoken word processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIE MERCIER ◽  
IRINA PIVNEVA ◽  
DEBRA TITONE
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Language Competition ◽  
Spoken Word Processing ◽  
Cross Language

We investigated whether individual differences in inhibitory control relate to bilingual spoken word recognition. While their eye movements were monitored, native English and native French English–French bilinguals listened to English words (e.g., field) and looked at pictures corresponding to the target, a within-language competitor (feet), a French cross-language competitor (fille “girl”), or both, and unrelated filler pictures. We derived cognitive and oculomotor inhibitory control measures from a battery of inhibitory control tasks. Increased cognitive inhibitory control was linked to less within-language competition for all bilinguals, and less cross-language competition for native French low-English-exposure bilinguals. Increased oculomotor inhibitory control was linked to less within-language competition for all native French bilinguals, and less cross-language competition for native French low-English-exposure bilinguals. The results extend previous findings (Blumenfeld & Marian, 2011), and suggest that individual differences in inhibitory control relate to bilingual spoken word processing.

The role of prior language context on bilingual spoken word processing: Evidence from the visual world task

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 376-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIE MERCIER ◽  
IRINA PIVNEVA ◽  
DEBRA TITONE
Keyword(s):  
Word Processing ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Language Competition ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Switch Group

We investigated whether speaking in one language affects cross- and within-language activation when subsequently switching to a task performed in the same or different language. English–French bilinguals (L1 English, n = 29; L1 French, n = 28) were randomly assigned to a prior language context condition consisting of a spontaneous production task in English (the no-switch group) or in French (the switch group). Participants then performed an English spoken language comprehension task using the visual world method. The key result was that the switch group showed less evidence of cross-language competition than the no-switch group, consistent with the notion of an active inhibition of a prior language in the switch group. These data suggest that proficient bilinguals can globally suppress a non-target language, whether it is L1 or L2, though doing so requires cognitive resources that may be diverted from other demands, such as controlling within-language competition.

scholarly journals Age-related Neural Reorganization during Spoken Word Recognition: The Interaction of Form and Meaning

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1434-1446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Shafto ◽  
Billi Randall ◽  
Emmanuel A. Stamatakis ◽  
Paul Wright ◽  
L. K. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Behavioral Sensitivity

Research on language and aging typically shows that language comprehension is preserved across the life span. Recent neuroimaging results suggest that this good performance is underpinned by age-related neural reorganization [e.g., Tyler, L. K., Shafto, M. A., Randall, B., Wright, P., Marslen-Wilson, W. D., & Stamatakis, E. A. Preserving syntactic processing across the adult life span: The modulation of the frontotemporal language system in the context of age-related atrophy. Cerebral Cortex, 20, 352–364, 2010]. The current study examines how age-related reorganization affects the balance between component linguistic processes by manipulating semantic and phonological factors during spoken word recognition in younger and older adults. Participants in an fMRI study performed an auditory lexical decision task where words varied in their phonological and semantic properties as measured by degree of phonological competition and imageability. Older adults had a preserved lexicality effect, but compared with younger people, their behavioral sensitivity to phonological competition was reduced, as was competition-related activity in left inferior frontal gyrus. This was accompanied by increases in behavioral sensitivity to imageability and imageability-related activity in left middle temporal gyrus. These results support previous findings that neural compensation underpins preserved comprehension in aging and demonstrate that neural reorganization can affect the balance between semantic and phonological processing.

scholarly journals Effects of Age, Word Frequency, and Noise on the Time Course of Spoken Word Recognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin J. Van Engen ◽  
Avanti Dey ◽  
Nichole Runge ◽  
Brent Spehar ◽  
Mitchell S. Sommers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Target Word ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Lexical Activation

This study assessed the effects of age, word frequency, and background noise on the time course of lexical activation during spoken word recognition. Participants (41 young adults and 39 older adults) performed a visual world word recognition task while we monitored their gaze position. On each trial, four phonologically unrelated pictures appeared on the screen. A target word was presented auditorily following a carrier phrase (“Click on ________”), at which point participants were instructed to use the mouse to click on the picture that corresponded to the target word. High- and low-frequency words were presented in quiet to half of the participants. The other half heard the words in a low level of noise in which the words were still readily identifiable. Results showed that, even in the absence of phonological competitors in the visual array, high-frequency words were fixated more quickly than low-frequency words by both listener groups. Young adults were generally faster to fixate on targets compared to older adults, but the pattern of interactions among noise, word frequency, and listener age showed that older adults’ lexical activation largely matches that of young adults in a modest amount of noise.

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