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Article published In: Translation, Cognition & Behavior
Vol. 1:2 (2018) ► pp.221–250

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Iconic culture-specific images influence language non-selective translation activation in bilinguals

Evidence from eye movements

 | University of Hyderabad
 | University of Hyderabad
Published online: 27 September 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tcb.00010.kap
Abstract
Two experiments using the visual-world paradigm examined whether culture-specific images influence the activation of translation equivalents during spoken-word recognition in bilinguals. In Experiment 1, the participants performed a visual-world task during which they were asked to click on the target after the spoken word (L1 or L2). In Experiment 2, the participants were presented with culture-specific images (faces representing L1, L2 and Neutral) during the visual world task. Time-course analysis of Experiment 1 revealed that there were a significantly higher number of looks to TE-cohort member compared to distractors only when participants heard to L2 words. In Experiment 2, when the cultural-specific images were congruent with the spoken word’s language, participants deployed higher number of looks to TE-cohort member compared to distractors. This effect was seen in both the language directions but not when the culture-specific images were incongruent with the spoken word. The eyetracking data suggest that culture-specific images influence cross-linguistic activation of semantics during bilingual audio-visual language processing.
Article outline
  • 1.Experiment 1
    • 1.1Methods
      • 1.1.1Participants
      • 1.1.2Control tasks
    • 1.2Stimulus images used for visual world
      • 1.2.1Selection of stimuli
      • 1.2.2Distractors
    • 1.3Procedure
    • 1.4Data analysis
      • Proportion of fixations
      • Saccade latency
      • Manual responses
    • 1.5Results
      • First-time window: 200–400 ms
      • Second-time window: 400–600 ms
      • Third-time window: 600–800 ms
      • Fourth-time window: 800–1000 ms
      • Saccade latency
      • Manual responses
    • 1.6Discussion
  • 2.Experiment 2
    • 2.1Methods
      • 2.1.1Participants
      • 2.1.2Stimuli images
    • 2.2Procedure
    • 2.3Data analysis
      • Proportion of fixations
      • Saccade latency
      • Manual responses
    • 2.4Results
      • 2.4.1Time course analysis
        • First time window: 200–400 ms
        • Second time window: 400–600 ms
        • Third time window: 600–800 ms
        • Fourth time window: 800–1000 ms
        • Saccade latency
        • Manual responses
    • 2.5Discussion
  • 3.General discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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