Bilingual Proficiency and Memory: An Associative Strength Approach

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管计算表明世界上一半以上的人口是双语者（Harris & mcgee - nelson, 1992），人类记忆理论很少涉及双语或语言熟练程度。事实上，目前，现有的数据不足以将双语能力纳入长期记忆模型。本研究旨在揭示双语和语言能力对言语记忆的影响机制。言语记忆的表现在很大程度上取决于不同类型的认知联系的强度。在本研究中，提出了一种理论，认为这些不同类型的联想的强度随着双语熟练程度的不同而变化，或者对于双语者来说，更流利的语言（第一语言）和更不流利的语言（第二语言）。每个特定的目标都侧重于不同类型关联的属性。具体目标1是通过测试第二语言编码片段是否比第一语言编码片段更具独特性，来验证第二语言比第一语言形成新单词-语境关联的能力更强的假设。具体而言，实验1A和1B将检验源识别性能，实验2将检验列表识别性能。如果这个假设是正确的，那么双语者在这些任务中会表现出L2比L1更好的表现。具体目标2是通过检查研究中形成的时间关联的指标来检验L2相对于L1形成新的时间关联的能力减弱的假设。实验3将研究排练模式，实验4将研究在学习中连续出现的项目在测试中被连续回忆的趋势。如果这个假设是正确的，那么第一语言单词将比第二语言单词排练得更频繁，在学习序列中也会走得更远。同时，连续学习的第一语言词汇比连续学习的第二语言词汇更容易被连续记忆。具体目的3是验证假设，即利用现有语义关联的能力在第二语言中相对于第一语言减弱。实验5将检验列表组织在多大程度上有助于回忆性能和回忆输出中的语义聚类程度。如果假设是正确的，那么组织在L2中的帮助将小于L1，并且L2的语义聚类将弱于L1。这五个实验将在以英语为主导和以西班牙语为主导的西班牙语-英语双语者和单语英语对照组中进行。随着具体目标的完成，我们将有一个更完整的联想特性的图片，这对于发展一个可信的双语熟练度和记忆理论至关重要。所获得的信息将使我们能够进一步发展一个理论，该理论基于语言熟练程度会调节所研究的不同类型联想的强度这一观点。这一理论将与其他记忆理论一起用于解释一系列双语记忆现象。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite calculations suggesting that that more than half of the world's population is bilingual (Harris & McGhee-Nelson, 1992), theories of human memory rarely address bilingualism or language proficiency. In fact, at present, existing data are insufficient to allow the incorporation of bilingual proficiency into models of long- term memory. The proposed research focuses on uncovering the mechanisms by which bilingualism and language proficiency impact verbal memory. Verbal memory performance depends in large part upon the strengths of various types of cognitive associations. In the proposed research, a theory is developed based on the idea that the strengths of these different types of associations vary as a function of bilingual proficiency, or for a bilinguals more fluent language (L1) and less fluet language (L2). Each specific aim focuses on the properties of a different type of association. Specific Aim 1 is to test the hypothesis that the ability to form new word-context associations is stronger in L2 than in L1 by testing whether L2 encoding episodes are more distinctive than L1 episodes. Specifically, Experiments 1A and 1B will examine source recognition performance, and Experiment 2 will examine list discrimination performance. If the hypothesis is correct, then bilinguals will exhibit better performance in L2 than in L1 for these tasks. Specific Aim 2 is to tst the hypothesis that the ability to form new temporal associations is diminished in L2 relative to L1 by examining indicators of the temporal associations formed at study. Experiment 3 will examine rehearsal patterns, and Experiment 4 will examine the tendency for items presented consecutively at study to be recalled consecutively at test. If the hypothesis is correct, then L1 words will be rehearsed more often and to a further point in the study sequence than L2 words. Also, L1 words studied consecutively will be more likely to be recalled consecutively than L2 words studied consecutively. Specific Aim 3 is to test the hypothesis that the ability to utilize pe-existing semantic associations is diminished in L2 relative to L1. Experiment 5 will examine the extent to which list organization helps recall performance and the degree of semantic clustering in recall output. If the hypothesis is correct, then organization will help less in L2 than in L1, nd semantic clustering will be weaker for L2 than for L1. The five proposed experiments will be conducted with English-dominant and Spanish-dominant Spanish-English bilinguals and monolingual English-speaking comparison groups. With the specific aims accomplished, we will have a more complete picture of the associative properties that are critical to developing a plausible theory of bilingual proficiency and memory. The information obtained will allow us to further develop a theory based on the idea that language proficiency moderates the strengths of the different types of associations under investigation. This theory will be used in conjunction with other theories of memory to explain a range of bilingual memory phenomena.