Order effects in bilingual recognition memory partially confirm predictions of the frequency-lag hypothesis

The present study examined task order, language, and frequency effects on list memory to investigate how bilingualism affects recognition memory. In Experiment 1, 64 bilinguals completed a recognition memory task including intermixed high and medium frequency words in English and another list in Spanish. In Experiment 2, 64 bilinguals and 64 monolinguals studied lists with only high frequency English words and a separate list with only low frequency English words, in counterbalanced order followed by a recognition test. In Experiment 1, bilinguals who completed the task in the dominant language first outperformed bilinguals tested in the nondominant language first, and order effects were not stronger in the dominant language. In Experiment 2, participants who were tested with high frequency word lists first outperformed those tested with low frequency word lists first. Regardless of language and testing order, memory for English and high frequency words was lower than memory for Spanish and medium frequency (in Experiment 1) or low frequency (in Experiment 2) words. Order effects on recognition memory patterned differently from previously reported effects on picture naming in ways that do not suggest between language interference and instead invite an analogy between language dominance and frequency of use (i.e., dominant language = higher frequency) as the primary factor affecting bilingual recognition memory.