Sep 2026· Current Psychology· Vol 45· 0 citations· 81 references
Abstract
Language control is central to bilingual research and is often assumed to interact with cognitive control. However, it remains unclear how language-internal lexical properties shape this relationship. Lexical imageability influences lexical access in both monolingual and bilingual processing and may therefore modulate language switching performance and its association with cognitive control, potentially through differences in lexical-access pathways. To examine this possibility, 56 Chinese–English bilinguals completed a cued bilingual picture-naming language-switching task and a Simon task. Linear mixed-effects modeling showed that relatively higher-imageability words exhibited more symmetrical switch costs across L1 and L2, whereas relatively lower-imageability words showed asymmetrical switch costs, with larger switch costs in L1 than in L2. In addition, switch costs were positively associated with Simon scores for relatively higher-imageability words but not for relatively lower-imageability words. These findings suggest that relative lexical imageability modulates language switching patterns and their relationship with cognitive control, highlighting the importance of considering language-internal lexical properties in understanding variability in bilingual language control.
This study investigated whether a short-term training session in language switching enhances inhibitory control in English-dominant bilinguals (
N
= 55) whose second language backgrounds included 17 various languages. The participants completed a pre-training flanker task, a 50-minute numeral-based language-swit...
Karolina Rachwał, Celina Del Vecchio, John W. Schwieter· Bilingualism: Language and C...· 0 citations
During production, multilinguals face increased lexical competition within and across languages, demanding cognitive control. This study investigated how multilingual experience—indexed by proficiency and usage—modulates the influence of trait-level (via control tasks) and state-level (using a Stroop-embedded picture...
Si-Fan Zhang, Hao-Yun Zhang· Bilingualism: Language and C...· 0 citations
Language shapes the organization of semantic memory and influences how individuals retrieve and combine concepts. The present study examined how language experience relates to associative thinking using Forward Flow, a metric that captures how far a thought sequence diverges semantically from an initial concept. Spanis...
Studies have generally found benefits of multimodal presentation for comprehension and memory. However, although learner-related and design-related factors have received increasing attention in bilingual and L2 research, the role of visual continuity in naturalistic reading and its interaction with attentional control...
Di-Chao Liang, Yen Na Yum, Neil Cohn· Language Teaching Research· 0 citations
Most researchers assume language non-selective lexical access: when a target is presented, words sharing form and/or meaning are activated regardless of language and may compete for identification. Lexical decision studies have explored the lateral inhibition (LI) mechanism using orthographic substitution neighbors...
A. I. Fernandes, J. Haro, T. Dijkstra et al.· International Journal of Bil...· 0 citations
Bilingual speakers must regulate cross-language competition to communicate effectively, yet this regulation typically unfolds under concurrent cognitive demands. To characterise how cognitive load shapes bilingual control, we used a dual-task picture-naming paradigm in which 78 proficient Chinese-English bilinguals per...
