Memory and Language in Bilinguals

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的目标是帮助理解语言和记忆之间的关系，无论是作为一般的认知现象，特别是与双语者。两个实验探讨了语言对认知成绩的影响，以确定语义提取中是否存在语言依赖记忆。语言依赖记忆现象表明，当提取时的语言环境与编码时的语言环境相匹配时，记忆变得更容易获得。使用一种以上语言的人特别容易产生语言依赖，因为他们的记忆可能在不同的语言环境中编码。据预测，双语者的记忆性能将提高编码语言和检索语言之间的匹配，双语者的认知性能将受益于恢复的语言环境时，编码。本项目扩展了以前的研究依赖于语言检索的情景记忆的语言依赖检索的现实世界中获得的知识在日常生活中（实验1）和语言依赖检索的信息在学术设置（实验2）。了解语言如何影响记忆的可及性，可能会直接影响双语者在教育，心理，医学和法律的设置的评估和测试。此外，研究语言对双语者记忆的影响可能有助于对更高层次认知过程的一般理解，例如语言和记忆之间的相互作用如何表现出来，影响的大小以及可能的一些潜在机制。

Description (provided by applicant): The goals of this research are to contribute to understanding the relationship between language and memory, both as general cognitive phenomena and as relevant to bilinguals in particular. Two experiments explore the effect of language on cognitive performance to establish whether language-dependent memory can be observed in semantic retrieval. The phenomenon of language-dependent memory suggests that memories become more accessible when the linguistic environment at retrieval matches the linguistic environment at encoding. Speakers of more than one language are particularly likely to experience language dependence, since their memories are likely to be encoded in different linguistic environments. It is predicted that bilinguals' memory performance will be improved by a match between language of encoding and language of retrieval, and that bilinguals' cognitive performance will benefit from reinstating the linguistic environment present at the time of encoding. The present project extends previous research on language dependent retrieval of episodic memories to language-dependent retrieval of real-world knowledge acquired in everyday life (Experiment 1) and to language-dependent retrieval of information learned in academic settings (Experiment 2). Understanding how language influences memory accessibility may have direct implications for assessment and testing of bilinguals in educational, psychological, medical, and legal settings. Moreover, studying the effects of language on memory in bilinguals may contribute to a general understanding of higher-level cognitive processes, such as how the interaction between language and memory manifests itself, the magnitude of the effects, and what may be some underlying mechanisms.