INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 11 Program Schedule 02/17/2024 10:45 am - 12:00 pm Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology \| Education/Training \| Professional Practice Issues Final Abstract #72 The Influence of Culture on Memory in Mandarin-English Bicultural Bilinguals Caitlin O'Riordan, York University, Toronto, Canada Rupkatha Basu, York University, Toronto, Canada Danika Wagner, York University, Toronto, Canada Sarah Wang, Pomona College, Claremont, United States Thanujeni Pathman, York University, Toronto, Canada Ellen Bialystok, York University, Toronto, Canada Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience Keyword 1: bilingualism/multilingualism Keyword 2: cross-cultural issues Keyword 3: memory: normal Objective: Bicultural bilinguals have the unique lived experience of having access to both two different languages and two, sometimes quite contrasting, cultures. This can often lead to interesting linguistic associations, with concepts being either shared across languages, or completely language specific. Additionally, one hallmark of bilingualism is cross-language activation — the activation of both languages even when only one is required, suggesting the existence of a shared memory system. However, language is known to operate contextually. Therefore, the extent of this co-activation is influenced by cultural significance, and the depth of this influence on memory remains limitedly explored. To this end, our study explores the influence of culture on memory retrieval in Mandarin-English bicultural bilinguals. Participants and Methods: Sixty-two Chinese-English bilingual participants (42 female, 18 male, two non-binary) aged 18-24 years completed an adapted old/new item recognition task. Stimuli comprised of words manipulated across two dimensions: language of presentation (Mandarin or English) and cultural bias (neutral or biased towards Chinese culture). Participants saw a continuous stream of words during four encoding phases. After each phase, participants were presented with words that were exact matches (presented identically during encoding), entirely novel (not presented during encoding), or translated equivalents (e.g., the same word presented in Mandarin during encoding but in English during recognition). Participants were screened for Mandarin reading proficiency and completed the Language and Social Background Questionnaire. Results: Analysis of recognition accuracy for the word types (exact match, novel and translated equivalents) revealed that culture and language influenced memory performance in a non-uniform manner. For exact matches, recognition accuracy (correctly identifying stimuli as “new”) was higher for word items biased towards Chinese culture, regardless of language presentation. For novel items, an interaction between language and cultural bias was observed: more false alarms (incorrectly identifying stimuli as “old”) were elicited when items were culturally biased and presented in Mandarin. For translated equivalents, a main effect of language was noted, with a higher false alarm rate for Mandarin words (originally in English) than English words (originally in Mandarin), regardless of cultural bias. Conclusions: The results indicate a complex interplay between culture and memory in bicultural bilingual individuals. The absence of a language effect in recognition accuracy for exact match words further supports the presence of cross-activation in the bilingual brain: since both languages were simultaneously active, the language of presentation did not influence performance, yet culture was a salient feature driving memory performance. For novel trials, the increased false alarms for culturally biased items presented in Mandarin may be driven by a cultural priming effect, in that participants felt they had encountered the word before due to the usual pairing of language and culture. This supports evidence that connections between culture-specific concepts and the relevant language are stronger than those concepts in another language. Finally, more false alarms to Mandarin items that were previously English (relative to vice versa) may be a consequence of higher English proficiency. The results highlight how culture plays a central role in bilingual memory, sometimes even extending beyond the influence of language.

Poster

02/17/2024
10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology | Education/Training | Professional Practice Issues

Final Abstract #72

The Influence of Culture on Memory in Mandarin-English Bicultural Bilinguals

Caitlin O'Riordan, York University, Toronto, Canada
Rupkatha Basu, York University, Toronto, Canada
Danika Wagner, York University, Toronto, Canada
Sarah Wang, Pomona College, Claremont, United States
Thanujeni Pathman, York University, Toronto, Canada
Ellen Bialystok, York University, Toronto, Canada

Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience

Keyword 1: bilingualism/multilingualism
Keyword 2: cross-cultural issues
Keyword 3: memory: normal

Objective:

Bicultural bilinguals have the unique lived experience of having access to both two different languages and two, sometimes quite contrasting, cultures. This can often lead to interesting linguistic associations, with concepts being either shared across languages, or completely language specific. Additionally, one hallmark of bilingualism is cross-language activation — the activation of both languages even when only one is required, suggesting the existence of a shared memory system. However, language is known to operate contextually. Therefore, the extent of this co-activation is influenced by cultural significance, and the depth of this influence on memory remains limitedly explored. To this end, our study explores the influence of culture on memory retrieval in Mandarin-English bicultural bilinguals.

Participants and Methods:

Sixty-two Chinese-English bilingual participants (42 female, 18 male, two non-binary) aged 18-24 years completed an adapted old/new item recognition task. Stimuli comprised of words manipulated across two dimensions: language of presentation (Mandarin or English) and cultural bias (neutral or biased towards Chinese culture). Participants saw a continuous stream of words during four encoding phases. After each phase, participants were presented with words that were exact matches (presented identically during encoding), entirely novel (not presented during encoding), or translated equivalents (e.g., the same word presented in Mandarin during encoding but in English during recognition). Participants were screened for Mandarin reading proficiency and completed the Language and Social Background Questionnaire.

Results:

Analysis of recognition accuracy for the word types (exact match, novel and translated equivalents) revealed that culture and language influenced memory performance in a non-uniform manner. For exact matches, recognition accuracy (correctly identifying stimuli as “new”) was higher for word items biased towards Chinese culture, regardless of language presentation. For novel items, an interaction between language and cultural bias was observed: more false alarms (incorrectly identifying stimuli as “old”) were elicited when items were culturally biased and presented in Mandarin. For translated equivalents, a main effect of language was noted, with a higher false alarm rate for Mandarin words (originally in English) than English words (originally in Mandarin), regardless of cultural bias.

Conclusions:

The results indicate a complex interplay between culture and memory in bicultural bilingual individuals. The absence of a language effect in recognition accuracy for exact match words further supports the presence of cross-activation in the bilingual brain: since both languages were simultaneously active, the language of presentation did not influence performance, yet culture was a salient feature driving memory performance. For novel trials, the increased false alarms for culturally biased items presented in Mandarin may be driven by a cultural priming effect, in that participants felt they had encountered the word before due to the usual pairing of language and culture. This supports evidence that connections between culture-specific concepts and the relevant language are stronger than those concepts in another language. Finally, more false alarms to Mandarin items that were previously English (relative to vice versa) may be a consequence of higher English proficiency. The results highlight how culture plays a central role in bilingual memory, sometimes even extending beyond the influence of language.