Shared spatial representations for physical locations and location words in bilinguals' primary language

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Psycholinguistics
• Neuroscience

Background:

• The Simon effect, a measure of cognitive control, is modulated by language in bilingual individuals.
• Previous research showed the Simon effect disappears in bilinguals when stimuli are in their primary language, but not their first language.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether language strength or order of acquisition is the critical factor influencing the Simon effect in bilinguals.
• To dissociate the effects of primary language use versus first language acquisition on cognitive control.

Main Methods:

• Tested bilingual participants who learned Spanish or Vietnamese first but use English as their primary language.
• Administered a Simon task with incompatible location-word mappings using both the primary (English) and first learned languages.
• Compared performance on Simon task trials across different language conditions.

Main Results:

• The incompatible location-word mapping influenced Simon task performance when words were presented in the primary language (English).
• The Simon effect was not eliminated when words were presented in the participants' first learned language (Spanish or Vietnamese).
• These results were consistent across both groups tested.

Conclusions:

• Language strength, defined by current primary use, is the critical factor in modulating the Simon effect for bilinguals.
• The order in which languages are acquired does not determine the extent of cognitive control modulation.
• Findings suggest that the dominant language exerts a stronger influence on cognitive processes like the Simon effect.