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Simulating cross-language priming with a dynamic computational model of the lexicon*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2012

XIAOWEI ZHAO  and
PING LI
XIAOWEI ZHAO*
Affiliation:
Emmanuel College
PING LI
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
*
Address for correspondence: Xiaowei Zhao, Department of Psychology, Emmanuel College, 400 The Fenway Boston, MA 02115, USAzhaox@emmanuel.edu
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Abstract

Cross-language priming is a widely used experimental paradigm in psycholinguistics to study how bilinguals’ two languages are represented and organized. Researchers have observed a number of interesting patterns from the priming effects of both translation equivalents and semantically related word pairs across languages. In this study, we implement a self-organizing neural network model, DevLex–II, to simulate these two types of priming effects across Chinese and English. Specifically, our model incorporates a computational mechanism for simulating spreading activation based on the distance between bilingual words in the semantic space. The model also considers additional factors that modulate priming effects, such as the initial activation level of the prime words and the degree to which the target word can be recognized. Our model reveals differences with respect to the priming effects as a function of bilingual type (early versus late L2 learners), directions of priming (L1 to L2 versus L2 to L1), and types of priming (translation versus semantic priming). These simulated differences are compared with empirical findings from previous studies and discussed in the light of interactive and developmental theories of bilingual lexical representation.

Keywords

neural networkscross-language primingDevLex–IIspreading activationAoA
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 16 , Issue 2: Computational Modeling of Bilingualism , April 2013 , pp. 288 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

*

Preparation of this article was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (#0968369; #1057855) to PL and by a grant from the Faculty Development Committee at Emmanuel College to XZ. We would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article.

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