A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults
Previous research suggests that bilinguals demonstrate superior cognitive control processes than monolinguals. The goal of the current investigation was to examine whether this bilingual advantage is observed in a language processing task that requires inhibition, i.e., lexical ambiguity processing....
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00682/full |
| _version_ | 1819224843558584320 |
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| author | Shanna eKousaie Christianne eLaliberté Christianne eLaliberté Rocío eLópez Zunini Rocío eLópez Zunini Vanessa eTaler Vanessa eTaler |
| author_facet | Shanna eKousaie Christianne eLaliberté Christianne eLaliberté Rocío eLópez Zunini Rocío eLópez Zunini Vanessa eTaler Vanessa eTaler |
| author_sort | Shanna eKousaie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Previous research suggests that bilinguals demonstrate superior cognitive control processes than monolinguals. The goal of the current investigation was to examine whether this bilingual advantage is observed in a language processing task that requires inhibition, i.e., lexical ambiguity processing. Monolingual and bilingual participants read sentences that biased the reading of a terminal homonym toward the subordinate or dominant reading (e.g., The doctor asked her to step onto the scale.). A relatedness judgement was made on target words that were related to the contextually appropriate (e.g., balance) or inappropriate meaning (e.g., skin), or unrelated to either meaning (e.g., shoe) while electrophysiological recording took place. The results revealed subtle processing differences between monolinguals and bilinguals that were evident in electrophysiological measures, but not in behavioural measures. These findings suggest that monolinguals rely on context to access the contextually appropriate meaning of a homonym to a greater extent than bilinguals, while bilinguals demonstrate simultaneous activation of both meanings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:00:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1d89319755694c9b98d5ed83accfa678 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:00:09Z |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-1d89319755694c9b98d5ed83accfa6782022-12-21T17:51:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612015-12-01910.3389/fnhum.2015.00682169970A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adultsShanna eKousaie0Christianne eLaliberté1Christianne eLaliberté2Rocío eLópez Zunini3Rocío eLópez Zunini4Vanessa eTaler5Vanessa eTaler6Bruyere Research InstituteBruyere Research InstituteUniversity of OttawaBruyere Research InstituteUniversity of OttawaBruyere Research InstituteUniversity of OttawaPrevious research suggests that bilinguals demonstrate superior cognitive control processes than monolinguals. The goal of the current investigation was to examine whether this bilingual advantage is observed in a language processing task that requires inhibition, i.e., lexical ambiguity processing. Monolingual and bilingual participants read sentences that biased the reading of a terminal homonym toward the subordinate or dominant reading (e.g., The doctor asked her to step onto the scale.). A relatedness judgement was made on target words that were related to the contextually appropriate (e.g., balance) or inappropriate meaning (e.g., skin), or unrelated to either meaning (e.g., shoe) while electrophysiological recording took place. The results revealed subtle processing differences between monolinguals and bilinguals that were evident in electrophysiological measures, but not in behavioural measures. These findings suggest that monolinguals rely on context to access the contextually appropriate meaning of a homonym to a greater extent than bilinguals, while bilinguals demonstrate simultaneous activation of both meanings.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00682/fullbilingualismN400Bilingualism and Brainevent-related potential (ERP)HomonymsLexical ambiguity processing |
| spellingShingle | Shanna eKousaie Christianne eLaliberté Christianne eLaliberté Rocío eLópez Zunini Rocío eLópez Zunini Vanessa eTaler Vanessa eTaler A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults Frontiers in Human Neuroscience bilingualism N400 Bilingualism and Brain event-related potential (ERP) Homonyms Lexical ambiguity processing |
| title | A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults |
| title_full | A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults |
| title_fullStr | A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults |
| title_short | A behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults |
| title_sort | behavioural and electrophysiological investigation of the effect of bilingualism on lexical ambiguity resolution in young adults |
| topic | bilingualism N400 Bilingualism and Brain event-related potential (ERP) Homonyms Lexical ambiguity processing |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00682/full |
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