Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

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.

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic processing refers to the cognitive operations that occur without conscious intent or awareness, playing a fundamental role in shaping social cognition and behavior. These processes enable individuals to navigate complex social environments efficiently by relying on mental shortcuts and pre-existing knowledge structures known as schemas. One of the most influential mechanisms underlying automatic processing is priming, which subtly activates mental representations through exposure to...

Lateralization

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

Language Development

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Attentional dynamics in lexical and language identification: evidence from eye-tracking.

Psychological research·2026

Same author

To include or not to include? A prescription from the pharmacy on how to use active learning-assisted screening in systematic reviews.

Systematic reviews·2026

Same author

Concreteness Effects of Constituents in Naming Mandarin Compounds.

Psychological research·2026

Same author

The role of semantic features in word production.

Brain research·2025

Same author

Processing Mandarin Chinese classifiers as a lexico-syntactic feature during noun phrase production.

Brain research·2025

Same author

Correction: Sentential inference bridging between lexical/grammatical knowledge and text comprehension among native Chinese speakers learning Japanese.

PloS one·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 18, 2026

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential ERP Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential ERP Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Published on: April 12, 2018

Morphological priming during language switching: an ERP study.

Saskia E Lensink¹, Rinus G Verdonschot², Niels O Schiller¹

¹Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands ; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

|January 8, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Bilingual language control may not always involve inhibiting the non-target language. Morphological priming effects were observed in L2, but event-related potential data suggest a post-lexical checking mechanism during language switching.

Keywords:

ERP bilingual language processing compounds language switch morphological priming

More Related Videos

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

Investigating the Effects of Antipsychotics and Schizotypy on the N400 Using Event-Related Potentials and Semantic Categorization

Investigating the Effects of Antipsychotics and Schizotypy on the N400 Using Event-Related Potentials and Semantic Categorization

Published on: November 19, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 18, 2026

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential ERP Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential ERP Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Published on: April 12, 2018

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

Investigating the Effects of Antipsychotics and Schizotypy on the N400 Using Event-Related Potentials and Semantic Categorization

Investigating the Effects of Antipsychotics and Schizotypy on the N400 Using Event-Related Potentials and Semantic Categorization

Published on: November 19, 2014

Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Cognitive Neuroscience
Computational Linguistics

Background:

Bilingual language control (BLC) models differ on the necessity of inhibitory mechanisms.
Research explores whether non-target language inhibition is always engaged during BLC.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of inhibition in bilingual language control using a long-lag morphological priming paradigm.
To examine event-related potential (ERP) correlates of morphological priming in L1 (Dutch) and L2 (English).

Main Methods:

An event-related potential (ERP) study using a long-lag morphological priming paradigm.
Participants named pictures and read words in L1 and L2, with switch and non-switch blocks.
Behavioral response latencies and ERPs were recorded.

Main Results:

Morphological priming effects were observed in both non-switch and switch blocks, indicating L2 morphological priming.
Faster naming for morphologically related targets compared to controls in non-switch blocks.
A reduced N400 trend was observed only in non-switch blocks, suggesting a post-lexical checking mechanism.

Conclusions:

Bilingual language control may not consistently rely on inhibition.
Evidence suggests a post-lexical checking mechanism might be employed during language switching in bilinguals.
Morphological priming is demonstrable in the second language (L2).