Article
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
October 2016, Volume 45, Issue 5, pp 1219­1245
First online: 30 October 2015
Multiple Translations in Bilingual Memory:
Processing Differences Across Concrete,
Abstract, and Emotion Words
Dana M. Basnight­Brown , Jeanette Altarriba
Abstract
Support
Historically, the manner in which translation ambiguity and emotional content are
represented in bilingual memory have often been ignored in many theoretical and empirical
investigations, resulting in these linguistic factors related to bilingualism being absent
from even the most promising models of bilingual memory representation. However, in
recent years it was reported that the number of translations a word has across languages
influences the speed with which bilinguals translate concrete and abstract words from one
language into another (Tokowicz and Kroll in Lang Cogn Process 22:727–779, 2007). The
current work examines how the number of translations that characterize a word influences
bilingual lexical organization and the processing of concrete, abstract, and emotional
stimuli. In Experiment 1, Spanish­English bilinguals translated concrete and abstract
words with one and more than one translation. As reported by Tokowicz and Kroll,
concreteness effects emerged only when words had more than one translation across
languages. In Experiment 2, bilinguals translated emotion words with more than one
translation. Concreteness effects emerged in both language directions for words with more
than one translation, and in the L1–L2 language direction for words with a single
translation across languages. These findings are discussed in terms of how multiple
translations, specifically for emotion words, might be incorporated into current models of
bilingual memory representation.
Keywords
Bilingualism Multiple translations Working memory Concrete Abstract Emotion
Concepts found in this article
Abstract Word
Emotion Word
Language Direction
Emotion­laden Word
Concreteness Effect
Low Frequency Word
Positive Emotion Word
What is this?
Concrete Word
Word Type
High Frequency Word
Context Availability
Translation Direction
Bilingual Language Processing
L1 Word
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of 11
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About this Article
Title
Support
Multiple Translations in Bilingual Memory: Processing Differences Across Concrete,
Abstract, and Emotion Words
Journal
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Volume 45, Issue 5 , pp 1219­1245 Cover Date
2016­10
DOI
10.1007/s10936­015­9400­4
Print ISSN
0090­6905
Online ISSN
1573­6555
Publisher
Springer US
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Topics
Psychology, general
Cognitive Psychology
Psycholinguistics
Keywords
Bilingualism
Multiple translations
Working memory
Concrete
Abstract
Emotion
Authors
Dana M. Basnight­Brown (1) (2)
Jeanette Altarriba (1)
Author Affiliations
Support
1. University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA
2. Department of Psychology, United States International University, Nairobi,
Kenya
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