Cover not available

Article published In: Bi-/Multilingualism and the Declining Brain
Edited by Christos Pliatsikas, Ana Inés Ansaldo and Toms Voits
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 11:4] 2021
► pp. 578–610

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Spoken word processing in bilingual older adults

Assessing within- and cross-language competition using the visual world task

 | McGill University
 | McGill University
 | McGill University
 | McGill University
 | McGill University
 | McGill University
Published online: 13 February 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.18028.tit
Abstract
We investigated whether bilingual older adults experience within- and cross-language competition during spoken word recognition similarly to younger adults matched on age of second language (L2) acquisition, objective and subjective L2 proficiency, and current L2 exposure. In a visual world eye-tracking paradigm, older and younger adults, who were French-dominant or English-dominant English-French bilinguals, listened to English words, and looked at pictures including the target (field), a within-language competitor (feet) or cross-language (French) competitor (fille, “girl”), and unrelated filler pictures while their eye movements were monitored. Older adults showed evidence of greater within-language competition as a function of increased target and competitor phonological overlap. There was some evidence of age-related differences in cross-language competition, however, it was quite small overall and varied as a function of target language proficiency. These results suggest that greater within- and possibly cross-language lexical competition during spoken word recognition may underlie some of the communication difficulties encountered by healthy bilingual older adults.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Materials
    • 2.3Apparatus
    • 2.4Procedure
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Within-language competition
      • 3.1.1Fixations to target pictures as a function of display (competitor display vs. no-competitor display), only when the target was heard
      • 3.1.2Fixations to within-language competitor pictures as a function of word heard (target vs. control), only when competitor displays were presented
      • 3.1.3Correct mouse clicks for within-language competitor-display trials as a function of word heard (target vs. control)
      • 3.1.4Interactions with English-language proficiency for older adults alone
      • 3.1.5Within-language competition summary
    • 3.2Cross-language competition
      • 3.2.1Fixations to target pictures as a function of display (competitor display vs. no-competitor display), only when the target was heard
      • 3.2.2Fixations to cross-language competitor pictures as a function of word heard (target vs. control), only when competitor displays were presented
      • 3.2.3Correct mouse clicks for cross-language competitor-display trials as a function of word heard (target vs. control)
      • 3.2.4Interaction with English-language proficiency in older adults
      • 3.2.5Cross-language competition summary
  • 4.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (85)
References
Albinet, C. T., Boucard, G., Bouquet, C. A., & Audiffren, M. (2012). Processing speed and executive functions in cognitive aging: How to disentangle their mutual relationship? Brain and Cognition, 79(1), 1–11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Allopenna, P. D., Magnuson, J. S., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (1998). Tracking the time course of spoken word recognition using eye movements: Evidence for continuous mapping models. Journal of Memory and Language, 38(4), 419–439. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Altmann, G. T. M. (2011). Language can mediate eye movement control within 100 milliseconds, regardless of whether there is anything to move the eyes to. Acta Psychologica, 137(2), 190–200. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Altmann, G. T. M., & Kamide, Y. (1999). Incremental interpretation at verbs: restricting the domain of subsequent reference. Cognition, 73(3), 247–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). Now you see it, now you don’t: Mediating the mapping between language and the visual world. In J. M. Henderson & F. Ferreira (Eds.), The interface of language, vision, and action: Eye movements and the visual world (pp. 347–386). New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baayen, R. H., Davidson, D. J., & Bates, D. M. (2008). Mixed-effects modeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items. Journal of Memory and Language, 591, 390–412. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barr, D. J., Levy, R., Scheepers, C., & Tily, H. J. (2013). Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language, 68(3), 255–278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bates, D. M. (2007). Linear mixed model implementation in lme4. Unplished manuscript, University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bates, D. M., Kliegl, R., Vasishth, S., & Baayen, H. (2015). Parsimonious mixed models [URL] stat.ME.
Baum, S., & Titone, D. (2014). Moving toward a neuroplasticity view of bilingualism, executive control, and aging. Applied Psycholinguistics, 35(5), 857–894. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ben-David, B. M., Chambers, C. G., Daneman, M., Pichora-Fuller, M. K., Reingold, E. M., & Schneider, B. A. (2011). Effects of aging and noise on real-time spoken word recognition: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 54(1), 243–262. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benichov, J., Cox, L. C., Tun, P. A., & Wingfield, A. (2012). Word recognition within a linguistic context: Effects of age, hearing acuity, verbal ability, and cognitive function. Ear and Hearing, 33(2), 262–268. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Best, C. (1995). A direct realist view of cross-language speech perception: Standing at the crossroads. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research. (pp. 171–204). Baltimore: York Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., & Luk, G. (2008). Cognitive control and lexical access in younger and older bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition, 34(4), 859–873. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blumenfeld, H. K., & Marian, V. (2007). Constraints on parallel activation in bilingual spoken language processing: Examining proficiency and lexical status using eye-tracking. Language and Cognitive Processes, 221, 633–660. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Bilingualism influences inhibitory control in auditory comprehension. Cognition, 118(2), 245–257. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braver, T. S., & Barch, D. A. (2002). A theory of cognitive control, aging cognition, and neuromodulation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26(7), 809–817. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Broersma, M., & Cutler, A. (2011). Competition dynamics of second-language listening. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(1), 74–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Canseco-Gonzalez, E., Brehm, L., Brick, C. A., Brown-Schmidt, S., Fischer, K., & Wagner, K. (2010). Carpet or Carcel: The effect of age of acquisition and language mode on bilingual lexical access. [Article]. Language and Cognitive Processes, 25(5), 669–705. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cooper, R. M. (1974). Control of eye fixation by meaning of spoken language – new methodology for real-time investigation of speech perception, memory, and language processing. Cognitive Psychology, 6(1), 84–107. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cutler, A., Weber, A., & Otake, T. (2006). Asymmetric mapping from phonetic to lexical representations in second-language listening. Journal of Phonetics, 34(2), 269–284. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dahan, D., & Gaskell, G. M. (2007). The temporal dynamics of ambiguity resolution: Evidence from spoken-word recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 57(4), 483–501. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dahan, D., Magnuson, J. S., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (2001). Time course of frequency effects in spoken-word recognition: Evidence from eye movements. Cognitive Psychology, 42(4), 317–367. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dijkstra, T., Van Jaarsveld, H., & Ten Birken, S. (1998). Interlingual homograph recognition: Effects of task demands and language intermixing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dufour, S., & Peereman, R. (2003). Lexical competition in phonological priming: Assessing the role of phonological match and mismatch lengths between primes and targets. Memory & Cognition, 31(8), 1271–1283. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fischer, B. (1992). Saccadic reaction time: Implications for reading, dyslexia and visual cognition. In K. Rayner (Ed.), Eye movements and visual cognition: Scene perception and reading. New York: Springer-Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Montoya, R. I., Cera, C., & Sandoval, T. C. (2008). More use almost always means a smaller frequency effect: Aging, bilingualism, and the weaker links hypothesis. Journal of Memory and Language, 58(3), 787–814. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Salmon, D. P., Montoya, R. I., & Galasko, D. R. (2011). Degree of bilingualism predicts age of diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in low-education but not in highly educated Hispanics. Neuropsychologia, 49(14), 3826–3830. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Slattery, T. J., Goldenberg, D., Van Assche, E., Duyck, W., & Rayner, K. (2011). Frequency drives lexical access in reading but not in speaking: The frequency-lag hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, 140(2), 186–209. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Green, D. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism Language and Cognition, 11, 67–81. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grosjean, F. (1980). Spoken word recognition processes and the gating paradigm. Perception and Psychophysics, 281, 267–283. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hallett, P. E. (1978). Primaty and secondary saccades to goals defined by instructions. Vision Research, 18(10), 1279–1296. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hasher, L., Lustig, C., & Zacks, R. (2007). Inhibitory mechanisms and the control of attention. In A. Conway, C. Jarrold, M. Kane, A. Miyake & J. Towse (Eds.), Variation in working memory New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hedden, T., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2004). Insights into the ageing mind: A view from cognitive neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(2), 87–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huettig, F., Rommers, J., & Meyer, A. S. (2011). Using the visual world paradigm to study language processing: A review and critical evaluation. Acta Psychologica, 137(2), 151–171. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuznetsova, A., Brockhoff, P. B., & Christensen, R. H. B. (2016). lmerTest: Tests in linear mixed effects models.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lash, A., Rogers, C. S., Zoller, A., & Wingfield, A. (2013). Expectation and entropy in spoken word recognition: Effects of age and hearing acuity. Experimental Aging Research, 39(3), 235–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Libben, M. R., & Titone, D. A. (2009). Bilingual Lexical Access in Context: Evidence From Eye Movements During Reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition, 35(2), 381–390. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, X., Banich, M. T., Jacobson, B. L., & Tanabe, J. L. (2004). Common and distinct neural substrates of attentional control in an integrated Simon and spatial Stroop task as assessed by event-related fMRI. Neuroimage, 221, 1097–1106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luce, P. A., & Pisoni, D. B. (1998). Recognizing spoken words: The neighborhood activation model. Ear and Hearing, 19(1), 1–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Magnuson, J. S., Dixon, J. A., Tanenhaus, M. K., & Aslin, R. N. (2007). The dynamics of lexical competition during spoken wrd recognition. Cognitive Science, 311, 1–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). The language experience and proficiency questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 501, 940–967. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marian, V., & Spivey, M. (2003a). Bilingual and monolingual processing of competing lexical items. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24(2), 173–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003b). Competing activation in bilingual language processing: Within- and between-language competition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 6(2), 97–97. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marian, V., Spivey, M., & Hirsch, J. (2003). Shared and separate systems in bilingual language processing: converging evidence from eyetracking and brain imaging. Brain and Language, 86(1), 70–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marslen-Wilson, W. D., & Welsh, A. (1978). Processing interactions and lexical access during word recognition in continuous speech. Cognitive Psychology, 10(1), 29–63. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matin, E., Shao, K. C., & Boff, K. R. (1993). Saccadic overhead – information-processing time with and without saccades. Perception & Psychophysics, 53(4), 372–380. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McClelland, J. L., & Elman, J. L. (1986). The TRACE model of speech-perception. Cognitive Psychology, 18(1), 1–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McQueen, J. M., & Cutler, A. (2001). Spoken word access processes: An introduction. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16(5–6), 469–490. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mercier, J., Pivneva, I., & Titone, D. (2014). Individual differences in inhibitory control relate to bilingual spoken word processing. Bilingualism-Language and Cognition, 17(1), 89–117. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nasreddine, Z., Phillips, N. A., Bedrian, V., Charbonneau, S., Whitehead, V., Collin, I., … Chertkow, H. (2005). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA): A brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 531, 695–699. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norris, D. (1994). Shortlist – a connectionist model of continuous speech recognition. Cognition, 52(3), 189–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pichora-Fuller, M. K. (2003). Cognitive aging and auditory information processing. International Journal of Audiology, 421, S26–S32. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pivneva, I., Mercier, J., & Titone, D. (2014). Executive control modulates cross-language lexical activation during L2 reading: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition, 40(3), 787–796. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pivneva, I., Palmer, C., & Titone, D. (2012). Inhibitory control and L2 proficiency modulate bilingual language production: evidence from spontaneous monologue and dialogue speech. Frontiers in Psychology, 31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Development Core Team. (2012). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. [URL]
Raz, N. (2000). Aging of the brain and its impact on cognitive performance: Integration of structural and functional finding. In F. I. M. Craik & T. A. Salthouse (Eds.), The handbook of aging and cognition (pp. 1–90). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Revill, K. P., & Spieler, D. H. (2012). The effect of lexical frequency on spoken word recognition in young and older listeners. Psychology and Aging, 27(1), 80–87. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rogers, C. L., Lister, J. J., Febo, D. M., Besing, J. M., & Abrams, H. B. (2006). Effects of bilingualism, noise, and reverberation on speech perception by listeners with normal hearing. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27(3), 465–485. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salthouse, T. A. (1996). The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition. Psychological Review, 103(3), 403–428. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salverda, A. P., Dahan, D., Tanenhaus, M. K., Crosswhite, K., Masharov, M., & McDonough, J. (2007). Effects of prosodically modulated sub-phonetic variation on lexical competition. Cognition, 105(2), 466–476. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saslow, M. G. (1967). Latency for saccadic eye movement. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 57(8), 1030–1033. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Segalowitz, N., & Frenkiel-Fishman, S. (2005). Attention control and ability level in a complex cognitive skill: Attention shifting and second-language proficiency. Memory & Cognition, 33(4), 644–653. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shook, A., & Marian, V. (2012). Bimodal bilinguals co-activate both languages during spoken comprehension. Cognition, 124(3), 314–324. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simon, J. R., & Rudell, A. P. (1967). Auditory S-R compatibility: the effect of an irrelevant cue on information processing. Journal of Applied Psycholinguistics, 511, 300–304.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Slowiaczek, L. M., & Hamburger, M. (1992). Prelexical facilitation and lexical interference in auditory word recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 181, 1239–1250.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sommers, M. S. (1996). The structural organization of the mental lexicon and its contribution to age-related declines in spoken-word recognition. Psychology and Aging, 11(2), 333–341. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sommers, M. S., & Danielson, S. M. (1999). Inhibitory processes and spoken word recognition in young and older adults: The interaction of lexical competition and semantic context. Psychology and Aging, 14(3), 458–472. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spivey, M. J., & Marian, V. (1999). Cross talk between native and second languages: Partial activation of an irrelevant lexicon. Psychological Science, 10(3), 281–284. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Strange, W. (1995). Cross-language studies of speech perception: A historical review. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience (pp. 3–48). Baltimore: York Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 181, 643–662. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taler, V., Aaron, G. P., Steinmetz, L. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2010). Lexical neighborhood density effects on spoken word recognition and production in healthy aging. Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 65(5), 551–560. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tanenhaus, M. K. (2007). Spoken language comprehension: insights from eye movements. In G. Gaskell (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Psycholinguistics (pp. 309–326). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tanenhaus, M. K., Spivey-Knowlton, M. J., Eberhard, K. M., & Sedivy, J. C. (1995). Integration of visual and linguistic information in spoken language comprehension. Science, 268(5217), 1632–1634. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Titone, D., Libben, M., Mercier, J., Whitford, V., & Pivneva, I. (2011). Bilingual lexical access during L1 sentence reading: The effects of L2 knowledge, semantic constraint, and L1-L2 intermixing. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition, 37(6), 1412–1431. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Titone, D., Gullifer, J., Subramaniapillai, S., Rajah, N., & Baum, S. (2017). History-inspired reflections on the Bilingual Advantages Hypothesis. Growing Old with Two Languages: Effects of Bilingualism on Cognitive Aging, 531, 265. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weber, A., & Cutler, A. (2004). Lexical competition in non-native spoken-word recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 50(1), 1–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
West, R. L. (1996). An application of prefrontal cortex function theory to cognitive aging. Psychological Bulletin, 120(2), 272–292. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whitford, V., & Titone, D. (2012). Second-language experience modulates first- and second-language word frequency effects: Evidence from eye movement measures of natural paragraph reading. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19(1), 73–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). Second-Language experience modulates eye movements during first- and second-language sentence reading: Evidence from the moving window paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Learning Memory and Cognition, 411, 1118–1129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Eye movements and the perceptual span during first-and second-language sentence reading in bilingual older adults. Psychology and Aging, 31(1), 58.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). The effects of word frequency and word predictability during first-and second-language paragraph reading in bilingual older and younger adults. Psychology and aging, 32(2), 158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wingfield, A., Aberdeen, J. S., & Stine, E. A. L. (1991). Word onset gating and linguistic context in spoken word recognition by young and elderly adults. Journals of Gerontology, 46(3), P127–P129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yee, E., Blumstein, S. E., & Sedivy, J. C. (2008). Lexical-semantic activation in Broca’s and Wernicke’s Aphasia: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(4), 592–612. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Berghoff, Robyn & Emanuel Bylund
2024. L2 activation during L1 processing is increased by exposure but decreased by proficiency. International Journal of Bilingualism 28:3 ► pp. 555 ff. DOI logo
Kuchinsky, Stefanie E., Ian Phillips & Rebecca E. Bieber
2024. Listening difficulty: From hearing to language [Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 81], ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo
Phillips, Ian, Rebecca E. Bieber, Coral Dirks, Ken W. Grant & Douglas S. Brungart
2024. Age Impacts Speech-in-Noise Recognition Differently for Nonnative and Native Listeners. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 67:5 ► pp. 1602 ff. DOI logo
Keller, Laura, Malte C. Viebahn, Alexis Hervais-Adelman, Kilian G. Seeber & Nicola Molinaro
2023. Unpacking the multilingualism continuum: An investigation of language variety co-activation in simultaneous interpreters. PLOS ONE 18:11 ► pp. e0289484 ff. DOI logo
Gullifer, Jason W. & Debra Titone
2021. Bilingualism: A Neurocognitive Exercise in Managing Uncertainty. Neurobiology of Language 2:4 ► pp. 464 ff. DOI logo
Pliatsikas, Christos, Ana Inés Ansaldo & Toms Voits
2021. Bilingualism and the declining brain. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 11:4 ► pp. 453 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue