Inhibitory control (IC), an ability to suppress irrelevant and/or conflicting information, has been found to underlie performance on a variety of cognitive tasks, including bilingual language processing. This study examines the relationship between IC and the speech patterns of second language (L2) users from the perspective of individual differences. While the majority of studies have supported the role of IC in bilingual language processing using single-word production paradigms, this work looks at inhibitory processes in the context of extended speech, with a particular emphasis on disfluencies. We hypothesized that the speech of individuals with poorer IC would be characterized by reduced fluency. A series of regression analyses, in which we controlled for age and L2 proficiency, revealed that IC (in terms of accuracy on the Stroop task) could reliably predict the occurrence of reformulations and the frequency and duration of silent pauses in L2 speech. No statistically significant relationship was found between IC and other L2 spoken output measures, such as repetitions, filled pauses, and performance errors. Conclusions focus on IC as one out of a number of cognitive functions in the service of spoken language production. A more qualitative approach towards the question of whether L2 speakers rely on IC is advocated.
This research reports on a quantitative analysis of the combination of two types of disfluency, reformulations and pauses, in the speech of lower intermediate and advanced speakers of English as a second language (L2). The present study distinguishes between corrections and false starts within the category of reformulations as well as between silent and filled pauses. It focuses on the extent to which pause behavior within reformulations varies according to the stage of L2 development and the type of reformulation used. An analysis was made of 56 L2 speakers’ 2-min monologues. The results showed that lower intermediate and advanced speakers differed on the frequency of silent pauses inserted in corrections but not on their frequency in false starts. This suggests that false starts depend less on proficiency level, and may reflect temporary problems with conceptual encoding or extralinguistic factors that contribute to the efficacy of L2 production rather than difficulties with linguistic processing per se. The frequency of silent pauses rather than silent pause duration or the frequency and duration of filled pauses appeared to be the only marker to differentiate between false starts and corrections across the two proficiency groups.
Reinstatement of encoding context facilitates memory for targets in young and older individuals (e.g., a word studied on a particular background scene is more likely to be remembered later if it is presented on the same rather than a different scene or no scene), yet older adults are typically inferior at recalling and recognizing target-context pairings. This study examined the mechanisms of the context effect in normal aging. Age differences in word recognition by context condition (original, switched, none, new), and the ability to explicitly remember target-context pairings were investigated using word-scene pairs (Experiment 1) and word-word pairs (Experiment 2). Both age groups benefited from context reinstatement in item recognition, although older adults were significantly worse than young adults at identifying original pairings and at discriminating between original and switched pairings. In Experiment 3, participants were given a three-alternative forced-choice recognition task that allowed older individuals to draw upon intact familiarity processes in selecting original pairings. Performance was age-equivalent. Findings suggest that heightened familiarity associated with context reinstatement is useful for boosting recognition memory in aging. Dalton, 1993;Fernandez & Glenberg, 1985;Godden & Baddeley, 1975Smith, 1979Smith, , 1985Smith, , 1986 Smith, Glenber, & Bjork, 1978), or matching aspects of the stimulus presentation, such as the background color on which a target is shown (e.g., Dulsky, 1935;Murnane & Phelps, 1993, 1994Weiss & Margolius, 1954). A number of studies have demonstrated a positive effect of global context matching on memory recall, but the effect on recognition memory has been relatively inconsistent, with some studies reporting a context effect (e.g., Dalton, 1993;Geiselman & Bjork, 1980;Geiselman & Glenny, 1977;Murnane & Phelps, 1993, 1994Smith, 1986;Smith & Vela, 1992), and others not (e.g., Fernandez & Glenberg, 1985;Godden & Baddeley, 1980;Jacoby, 1983;Smith, 1986;Smith et al., 1978).In their recent study, Craik and Schloerscheidt (2011) found that context reinstatement was beneficial to recognition in older adults. Young and older participants were presented with object names (Experiment 1A) or pictures (Experiment 1B) superimposed on background scenes under instructions to make an association between the word/picture and
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