Psychology (Functional Area: Developmental & Cognitive Processes)

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The Influence of Cultural Context on Language Activation in Korean-English Bilinguals
(2014-07-09) Berkes, Matthias Daniel; Bialystok, Ellen B.
Both languages for bilinguals are jointly activated even when performance is clearly restricted to one. The present study investigated the role of cultural cues on the relative level of joint linguistic activation. Twenty-two Korean-English bilinguals were presented with a picture and an audio cue and indicated via button press whether the heard label named the depicted object while EEG was recorded. In the critical blocks, the pictures represented exemplars that were more typically English or Korean, even though both exemplars take the same name in both languages (e.g., North American soup vs. Korean soup). English or Korean labels for the same set of pictures were presented in separate blocks. Reaction times were significantly faster for trials in which the auditory stimulus correctly named the object and the language matched the cultural bias. Providing the correct label in either language significantly attenuated the N400. A late positive component (LPC) was present for trials in which the label was correct, and was more positive when viewing Korean exemplars with English audio. No differences were seen when either English or Korean pictures were paired with Korean auditory stimuli. Therefore, effects of cultural context and semantic integration appear to be separate.