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Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

Components of Language

Components of Language

Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs. “eh”). Phonemes combine to...

Language

Language

Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...

Translation

Translation

Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
Proteins are called the...

Translation

Translation

Lesson: Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life

Translation

Translation

Lesson: Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

Published on: June 29, 2021

Bilingual word recognition in a sentence context.

Eva Van Assche¹, Wouter Duyck, Robert J Hartsuiker

¹Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University Ghent, Belgium.

Frontiers in Psychology

|June 8, 2012

Summary

Bilinguals activate words from both languages when reading, even in sentences. Contextual cues like language or meaning do not fully prevent this non-selective lexical access, especially early in reading.

Keywords:

bilingualism eye tracking sentence processing visual word recognition

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Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Cognitive Neuroscience
Bilingualism Research

Background:

Bilingual word recognition research often shows activation of both languages (language-non-selective lexical access) when reading single words.
The generalization of this phenomenon to sentence contexts remains an active area of investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To review bilingualism research on visual word recognition in isolation and sentence contexts.
To examine whether language cues and semantic constraints in sentences affect non-selective lexical access.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on bilingual visual word recognition.
Analysis of eye-tracking studies investigating the time course of word activation in bilinguals.
Discussion of theoretical models, including the Bilingual Interactive Activation+ model.

Main Results:

Language-non-selective lexical access is observed in both isolated word recognition and sentence contexts.
Preceding words in a sentence are insufficient to restrict lexical access to the target language.
Semantic constraints show a late effect on non-selective access, not affecting early reading stages.

Conclusions:

Bilingual lexical access remains largely non-selective, even within sentence contexts.
Theoretical models need to account for the persistent non-selective nature of bilingual word recognition.
Further research is needed to fully understand the interplay of context and language activation in bilingual readers.