Cognitive Load in the Bilingual Brain: Insights from Decoupled Reading

描述(申请人提供)：拟议的研究将考察无脑阅读的情节，特别关注这种情节可能为双语认知提供的新奇洞察力。无头脑阅读(MR)是一种“白日梦模式”，在这种模式下，读者继续在文本上移动他们的眼睛，但他们的注意力已经脱离了文本处理。在某些方面，MR类似于其他自动化过程，例如在交谈时驾驶熟悉的路线。人们善于将思想与行动脱钩，让习以为常的行为“在幕后”进行，而有意识的头脑却在别处活动。事实上，据估计，走神在日常认知中占据了30%-50%的比例。近年来，许多研究记录了双语带来的一系列认知益处，从优越的低水平知觉分类到优越的高级执行功能。一个突出的假设是，双语者不断地使用神经回路来控制语言选择，即使在使用主导语言的时候也是如此。这一“变戏法”促进了强大的神经系统的认知控制，即使在非语言任务中也是如此。这项拟议的研究是对这些领域的综合，代表了对双语者走神(MR)的首次调查。我们将对单语者和双语者进行MR的基础性实验，作为一种生态有效的手段来研究他们认知差异的一个潜在来源。根据最近的理论，走神反映了大脑“默认网络”的活动，该网络周期性地与额顶网络中更受控制的活动进行权衡。我们提出了一个可行的假设，即作为持续的语言选择的函数，双语者不太可能走神，特别是在语言处理过程中。我们还将测试与直觉相反的假设，即当人们用他们的主要语言阅读时，走神会更频繁地发生。对走神的科学研究提出了方法论上的挑战，因为它经常需要参与者进行自我报告，而参与者通常没有意识到注意力已经消失。在先生中， 然而，眼球运动有一些特有的变化，可以及早、隐蔽地发现。我们的研究将使用眼球跟踪在自然阅读过程中以一种不引人注目的方式识别MR。我们的具体目标是(1)继续开发一个贝叶斯网络，将眼动模式分类为实时指示MR，而不需要参与者自我报告MR或对外部提示做出反应；(2)确定自然阅读中MR发作的频率和持续时间，特别关注双语者以其主要和非主要语言阅读；(3)确定单语者和双语者在MR期间凝视相关显示变化的检测率是否不同；(4)直接评估认知负荷在MR中的作用，通过比较印刷段落和自然手写段落时的MR率，这增加了阅读中自上而下处理的需要；以及(5)使用E-Z Reader眼动控制模型完成实验的理论模拟。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research will examine episodes of mindless reading, with special focus on the novel insights that such episodes may offer into bilingual cognition. Mindless reading (MR) is a "daydream mode" wherein readers continue moving their eyes across the text, but their attention has disengaged from text processing. In some regards, MR is similar to other automatized processes, such as driving a familiar route while having a conversation. People are adept at decoupling thought from action, allowing well-practiced behaviors to proceed "in the background," while the conscious mind is elsewhere occupied. Indeed, it is estimated that mind-wandering occupies anywhere from 30-50% of everyday cognition. In recent years, numerous studies have documented a broad set of cognitive benefits that occur in bilingualism, ranging from superior low-level, perceptual categorization to superior high-level executive functioning. A prominent hypothesis is that bilinguals constantly engage neural circuitry to control language selection, even when the dominant language is being used. This "juggling act" promotes robust neural systems for cognitive control, even in non-linguistic tasks. The proposed research is a synthesis of these fields, and represents the first investigation of mind-wandering (or MR) in bilinguals. We will conduct foundational experiments on MR in monolinguals and bilinguals, as an ecologically valid means to investigate one potential source of their cognitive differences. According to recent theory, mind-wandering reflects activity of the brain's "default network," which cyclically trades off with more controlled activity in frontal-parietal networks. We suggest a working hypothesis that, as a function of constant language selection, bilinguals are less likely to mind-wander, especially during language processing. We will also test the counter-intuitive hypothesis that mind-wandering will occur more often when people read in their dominant language. The scientific study of mind-wandering poses methodological challenges, as it often requires self-report by the participant, who is typically unaware that attention has lapsed. In MR, however, there are characteristic changes in eye-movements that allow early, covert detection. Our research will use eye-tracking to identify MR in an unobtrusive manner during natural reading. Our specific aims are (1) to continue developing a Bayesian network that classifies eye-movement patterns as indicating MR, in real-time, without requiring participants to self-report MR or respond to external prompts; (2) to determine the frequency and duration of MR episodes during natural reading, with special focus on bilinguals reading in their dominant and non-dominant languages; (3) to determine whether monolinguals and bilinguals differ in detection rates for gaze-contingent display changes during MR; (4) to directly assess the role of cognitive load in MR, by comparing MR rates when passages are presented in print versus natural handwriting, which increases the need for top-down processing in reading; and (5) to complete theoretical simulations of the experiments using the E-Z Reader model of eye-movement control.