Do Bilinguals Access a Shared or Separate Conceptual Store? Creating False Memories in a Mixed-Language Paradigm

Authors

Aaron Mitchel, Macalester College

Document Type

Honors Project

Comments

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Abstract

A central focus of bilingualisrn research is the representation of two language systems in memory. The Revised Hierarchical Model (Kroll & Stewart, l994) predicts that bilinguals access conceptual information from both languages simultaneously. To test this hypothesis, the present study attempted to create false memories across languages. Twenty-two Spanish-English bilinguals participated in a mixed language associative list paradigm. False recognition of target words was significantly higher than false recognition of control words, both within and between languages. These results provide evidence for a shared conceptual store and parallel activation of languages, supporting the Revised Hierarchical Model.

Recommended Citation

Mitchel, Aaron, "Do Bilinguals Access a Shared or Separate Conceptual Store? Creating False Memories in a Mixed-Language Paradigm" (2005). Psychology Honors Projects. 1.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/psychology_honors/1