When do false memories cross language boundaries in English-Spanish bilinguals?

The cost of changing language context: The language-dependent recall of fictional stories

Language-dependent recall refers to the language-specific retrieval of memories in which the retrieval success depends on the match between the languages of encoding and retrieval. The present study investigated language-dependent recall in terms of memory accuracy, false memory, and episodic memory characteristics in the free recall of fictional stories. We also asked how language-dependent memories were influenced by language proficiency and visual imagery. One hundred and thirty-seven native Turkish (L1) speakers who were second-language learners of English (L2) were divided into four groups in which they read fictional stories and then recalled them: (1) Turkish reading-Turkish recall, (2) English reading-English recall, (3) English reading-Turkish recall, (4) Turkish reading-English recall. Regardless of the match between L1 or L2, accuracy was higher when participants read and recalled the stories in the same language than when they did it in different languages, showing the language-dependent recall effect. Notably, the effect of match or mismatch between encoding and retrieval languages on accuracy did not depend on L2 proficiency and visual imagery. In addition, false memories were salient, particularly for participants who read the stories in L2 but retrieved them in L1. Overall, our findings suggest that accuracy-oriented memory research provides a comprehensive investigation of language-dependent recall, addressing the links of language-dependent memories with accuracy, false memory, and episodic memory characteristics.

False memory in between-language conditions: a brief review on the effect of encoding and retrieving in different languages

False memories have been extensively investigated over the past few decades using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. In this paradigm, participants study lists of words associatively related to a non-presented critical lure. During a memory test, these critical lures are falsely recalled or recognized. Most studies have focused on false memories that arise when both encoding and retrieval are conducted in the same language (i.e., within-language conditions), which is typically the participant's native or first language (L1). However, much less is known about false memories when critical lures appear in the memory test in a different language than the studied lists (i.e., between-language conditions), being one of them the participant's second language (L2). The main objective of this exhaustive review was to provide an overview of the current state of research on false recognition using the DRM paradigm in between-language conditions, where languages are switched between encoding and retrieval (i.e., L1L2 versus L2L1). The results revealed a language dominance effect in between-language false memories. In other words, false recognition rates were dependent on the study language, with a trend toward higher false recognition when words were enconded in the L1 (L1L2) compared to when words were encoded in the L2 (L2L1). This review enhances our understanding of how studying words in a first or second language affects false memory in the DRM paradigm, emphasizing the significance of investigating false memory in second language speakers and the necessity for further research in the field.

False memory in a second language: The importance of controlling the knowledge of word meaning

In the globalized world we live in, it is increasingly common for people to speak more than one language. Although research in psychology has been widely interested in the study of false memories with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, to date, there is a scarcity of studies comparing false memories in the first and the second language (L1 and L2, respectively). It is noteworthy that one of the most studied variables in the DRM paradigm, the backward associative strength (BAS), has hardly been studied in the L2. Moreover, the only study that recently examined this matter found differences in the knowledge of L2-word meaning between the high-BAS and low-BAS lists, which would hinder the interpretation of the BAS effect in L2 false memories. Taking all this into account, the current work examined false memories in the L1 (Spanish) and the L2 (English) as a function of BAS overcoming the limitations of the previous study. We selected DRM lists using both Spanish and English free association norms and lists were constructed to vary in BAS values while controlling the knowledge of word meaning. Results showed that false recognition was greater in the L1 or dominant language than in the L2 or non-dominant language. Furthermore, BAS modulated the false recognition in both the L1 and the L2. That is, false recognition was higher in high-BAS than low-BAS lists in both languages. Sensitivity index from the signal-detection theory helped us gain further insight into these results. The main findings are discussed in the light of theoretical models from both the false memory and the second language processing literature. Finally, practical implications and future research are provided.

The Role of Language Proficiency in False Memory: A Mini Review

Memory errors and, specifically, false memories in the Deese/Roediger–McDermott paradigm have been extensively studied in the past decades. Most studies have investigated false memory in monolinguals’ native or first language (L1), but interest has also grown in examining false memories in participants’ second language (L2) with different proficiency levels. The main purpose of this manuscript is to review the current state of knowledge on the role of language proficiency on false memories when participants encode and retrieve information in the same language. To do so, a systematic literature search was conducted, and the available studies were reviewed. These studies differed in, for example, age, language proficiency, or material characteristics, including both high and low associative strength lists, and they reported different results. In this review, we attempted to make sense of the apparently contradictory results by carefully identifying participants’ language dominance and L2 proficiency. Specifically, the results indicated that, first, people are more prone to produce false memories in their dominant than in their non-dominant language. This result generalizes to lists with high and low associative strength, as well as to participants of different ages. Second, false memories do not differ between two languages when speakers are equally proficient in both languages. Finally, highly proficient L2 speakers produce more false memories in their L2 than speakers with lower L2 proficiency. The results of this review will be considered in the light of the theoretical frameworks of false memories and bilingual language processing.

The effect of language proficiency and associative strength on false memory

In two experiments we examined the role of language proficiency and associative strength in the production of false memory. We constructed Deese-Roediger-McDermott lists using both Spanish and English free association norms. Lists were constructed to vary in backward associative strength (BAS). Experiment 1 participants were native Spanish speakers with some proficiency in English while Experiment 2 participants were native Spanish participants that had either high, intermediate, or low English proficiency. Results showed that, in both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2, false recognition was greater in participants' dominant language (L1 or Spanish) than in their non-dominant language (L2 or English), and false recognition in L2 increased with L2 proficiency when low-BAS lists were studied (Experiment 2). Further, false recognition was higher in high-BAS lists than in low-BAS lists in both L1 and L2. Finally, we collected a measure of participants' knowledge of our stimulus words in L2. These data showed that participants had far from perfect knowledge of all L2 stimuli. Analyses that factored out the effects of L2 word knowledge failed to alter the effects of L1 vs. L2, L2 proficiency and BAS on false recognition.

The Curious Case of the Arabic–English Bilingual Speaker with Substantial Rote Rehearsal Practice

The main goal of the present study was to determine whether the probability of correct and illusory recall of word lists varies with participants’ frequency of memorization and recitation practice. The ancillary goal was to determine whether the concurrent presentation of Arabic words and English translations would influence correct and illusory recall rates relative to monolingual presentation. The words in each list were selected to gravitate around a theme word, which was never presented. In this procedure, recall of the theme word was considered prima facie evidence of an illusory memory. Participants were Arabic–English bilingual speakers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). No effects of bilingual presentation on correct and illusory recall were observed in Experiment 1, which relied on lists developed in the United States for monolingual English speakers, and in Experiment 3, which relied on culturally appropriate lists. However, bilingual presentation reduced generic semantic intrusions in Experiment 1. Participants’ illusory recall rates were lower than those of published norms gathered from English-speaking monolingual participants. In Experiment 1, generic semantic intrusions declined as the breadth of participants’ recitation practice increased. No other significant correlations were found between memory indices and performance or sentiment measures of rote rehearsal. The implications of the finding that a didactic and religious practice taught to KSA students from an early age has little impact on the retention of verbal information are discussed.

"Neural overlap of L1 and L2 semantic representations across visual and auditory modalities: a decoding approach"

This study investigated whether brain activity in Dutch-French bilinguals during semantic access to concepts from one language could be used to predict neural activation during access to the same concepts from another language, in different language modalities/tasks. This was tested using multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA), within and across language comprehension (word listening and word reading) and production (picture naming). It was possible to identify the picture or word named, read or heard in one language (e.g. maan, meaning moon) based on the brain activity in a distributed bilateral brain network while, respectively, naming, reading or listening to the picture or word in the other language (e.g. lune). The brain regions identified differed across tasks. During picture naming, brain activation in the occipital and temporal regions allowed concepts to be predicted across languages. During word listening and word reading, across-language predictions were observed in the rolandic operculum and several motor-related areas (pre- and postcentral, the cerebellum). In addition, across-language predictions during reading were identified in regions typically associated with semantic processing (left inferior frontal, middle temporal cortex, right cerebellum and precuneus) and visual processing (inferior and middle occipital regions and calcarine sulcus). Furthermore, across modalities and languages, the left lingual gyrus showed semantic overlap across production and word reading. These findings support the idea of at least partially language- and modality-independent semantic neural representations.

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Evidence for at least partially language- and modality-independent semantic neural representations.

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With a decoding approach, we tested whether brain activity during the semantic access of individual nouns in one language and modality (e.g. production) allowed predicting the semantic access of the same concepts in the other language and modalities (e.g. word listening, word reading).

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Across modalities and languages, the left lingual gyrus showed semantic overlap across production and word reading.

Retrieval of bilingual autobiographical memories: effects of cue language and cue imageability

An important issue in theories of bilingual autobiographical memory is whether linguistically encoded memories are represented in language-specific stores or in a common language-independent store. Previous research has found that autobiographical memory retrieval is facilitated when the language of the cue is the same as the language of encoding, consistent with language-specific memory stores. The present study examined whether this language congruency effect is influenced by cue imageability. Danish-English bilinguals retrieved autobiographical memories in response to Danish and English high- or low-imageability cues. Retrieval latencies were shorter to Danish than English cues and shorter to high- than low-imageability cues. Importantly, the cue language effect was stronger for low-than high-imageability cues. To examine the relationship between cue language and the language of internal retrieval, participants identified the language in which the memories were internally retrieved. More memories were retrieved when the cue language was the same as the internal language than when the cue was in the other language, and more memories were identified as being internally retrieved in Danish than English, regardless of the cue language. These results provide further evidence for language congruency effects in bilingual memory and suggest that this effect is influenced by cue imageability.

A Short-Term Testing Effect in Cross-Language Recognition

Taking a memory test after an initial study phase produces better long-term retention than restudying the items, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. We propose that this effect emerges because testing strengthens semantic features of items’ memory traces, whereas restudying strengthens surface features of items’ memory traces. This novel account predicts that a testing effect should be observed even after a short retention interval when a language switch occurs between the learning phase and the final test phase. We assessed this prediction with Dutch-English bilinguals who learned Dutch Deese-Roediger-McDermott word lists through restudying or through testing (retrieval practice). Five minutes after this learning phase, they took a recognition test in Dutch (within-language condition) or in English (across-language condition). We observed a testing effect in the across-language condition, but not in the within-language condition. These findings corroborate our novel account of the testing effect.