Published in: Journal of Memory and Language, Volume 100, June 2018, 32-50 Abstract “Current models of spoken word recognition suggest that multiple lexical candidates are activated in parallel upon hearing an utterance, with these lexical hypotheses competing with each other for recognition. The current project investigated the effect of cognitive load on initial lexical access and later lexical competition. In a set of priming studies, the lexicality of the primes (i.e., non-word vs. word) was manipulated to dissociate these two sub-processes. We tested performance on a semantic association task under conditions with no additional load, or with cognitive load that used… Read More
Lexical access in the second year: a study of monolingual and bilingual vocabulary development
Published in: Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Volume 21, Issue 2, 314-327 Abstract “It is well established that vocabulary size is related to efficiency in auditory processing, such that children with larger vocabularies recognize words faster than children with smaller vocabularies. The present study evaluates whether this relation is specific to the language being assessed, or related to general language or cognitive processes. Speed of word processing was measured longitudinally in Spanish- and English-learning monolinguals and bilinguals at 16 and 22 months of age. Speed of processing in bilinguals was similar to monolinguals, suggesting that the number of languages to which children… Read More