Common category organization in bilingual Spanish-English adults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jmbs.25282Keywords:
categorization, English-Spanish, bilingualism, simultaneous language learningAbstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine differences in categorization between Spanish and English in bilingual adults. Participants were asked to generate as many examples as possible within 2 minutes for four common categories. Number of items produced, and category structure relative to typicality for each category, was analyzed in 25 simultaneous Spanish-English bilingual participants between the ages of 18–65. Performance between the two languages was evaluated relative to several variables that may contribute to language use differences between languages in bilingual persons. Results revealed there were significant differences in the number of items produced in English versus Spanish for all four categories, with participants producing significantly more items in English than Spanish. There were no significant differences in mean typicality ratings between English and Spanish for three of the four categories. However, for the category ‘vegetables’, participant responses showed a remarkably lower mean typicality rating in English versus Spanish. Correlation analyses revealed negative relationships between education level and typicality data for both languages. However, age and time spent in the United States was significantly correlated, but only for Spanish data. Thus, the current findings support the idea that the way information is organized relative to categorization is individualized, linked to the bilingual individual’s language environment.
References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2021). Multilingual service delivery. https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/multilingual-service-delivery/
Andrews, J. K., Livingston, K. R., & Kurtz, K. J. (2011). Category learning in the context of co-presented items. Cognitive Processing, 12(2), 16–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-010-0377-5
Avila-Caballero, D. A., Roberts, R., & Errante, E. (2018). Bilingual advantage? Semantic organization of common categories in young bilingual adults. Unpublished manuscript, Florida International University.
Baculima, E., Juliao, M., Medina, J., & Muniz, N. (2018) Semantic organization of common categories in Spanish monolingual adults. Unpublished Master’s project, Florida International University.
Bruner, J. S., Goodnow, J. J., & Austin, G. A. (1956). A study of thinking. John Wiley and Sons.
Carvalho, P., & Goldstone, R. (2014). Putting category learning in order: Category structure and temporal arrangement affect the benefit of interleaved over blocked study. Memory & Cognition, 42(3), 481–495. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-013-0371-0
Claussen, L., Pasarin, L., & Porro, M. (2016). Category organization in young bilingual adults. Unpublished Masters’ project, Florida International University.
Croke, J., Fernandez, A., Kabbani N., & Savino, S. (2019). Semantic organization of common categories in English monolinguals. Unpublished manuscript, Florida International University.
DeLuca, V., Rothman, J., Bialystok, E., & Pliatsakis, C. (2019). Refining bilingualism as a spectrum of experiences that differentially affects brain structure and function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(15), 7565–7574. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811513116
Dufour, R., & Kroll, J. (1995). Matching words to concepts in two languages: A test of the concept mediation model of bilingual representation. Memory & Cognition, 23(2), 166–173. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197219
Fairchild, S., & Papafragou, A. (2020). Language and categorization in monolinguals and bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(3), 618–630. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000488
Ghio, M., Vaghi, M., & Tettamanti, M. (2013). Fine-grained semantic categorization across the abstract and concrete domains. PlosONE, 8(6), e67090. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067090
Hajibayova, L. (2013). Basic-level categories: A review. Journal of Information Science, 39(5), 676–687. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551513481443
Ji, L.-J., Peng, K., & Nisbett, R. E. (2000). Culture, control, and perception of relationships in the environment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 943–955. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.5.943
Ji, L.-J., Zhang, Z., & Nisbett, R. E. (2004). Is it culture or is it language? Examination of language effects in cross-cultural research on categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 57–65. https://doi.org10.1037/0022-3514.87.1.57
Kañetas, E. G. (2010). Book review of “María José Rodríguez Espiñera y Jesús Pena Seijas (eds.), Categorización lingüística y límites intercategoriales.” Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica, 58(1), 285–293. https://doi.org/10.24201/nrfh.v58i1.2458
Löw, A., Bentin, S., Rockstroh, B., Silberman, Y., Gomolla, A., Cohen, R., & Elbert, T. (2003). Semantic categorization in the human brain: Spatiotemporal dynamics revealed by magnetoencephalography. Psychological Science, 14(4), 367–372. http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.24451
Luk, G. & Bialystok, E. (2013). Bilingualism is not a categorical variable: Interaction between language proficiency and usage. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25, 605–621. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.795574
Malt, B. C., Sloman, S. A., & Gennari, S. P. (2003). Universality and language specificity in object naming. Journal of Memory and Language, 49(1), 20–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-596X(03)00021-4
Murphy, G. L. (2022). Categories and concepts. In R. Biswas-Diener, & E. Diener (Eds.), Noba textbook series: Psychology. DEF Publishers.
Murphy, G. L., & Smith, E. E. (1982). Basic-level superiority in picture categorization. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 21, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(82)90412-1
Pexman, P., Hargreaves, I., Edwards, J., Henry, L., & Goodyear, B. (2007). The neural consequences of semantic richness. Psychological Science, 18(5), 401–406. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01913.x
Pliatsikas, C., DeLuca, V., & Volts, T. (2019). The many shades of bilingualism: Language experiences modulate adaptations in brain structure. Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies, 70, 133–149. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12386
Rorissa, A., & Iyer, H. (2008). Theories of cognition and image categorization: What category labels reveal about basic level theory. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(9), 1383–1392. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20825
Rosch, E. (1973). On the internal structure of perceptual and semantic categories. In T. E. Moore (Ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language. Academic Press.
Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive representations of semantic categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104, 192–233. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.192
Rosch, E., & Mervis, C. (1975). Family resemblances: Studies in the internal structure of categories. Cognitive Psychology, 7(4), 573–605. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(75)90024-9
Rosch, E., Mervis, C., Gray, W., Johnson, D., & Boyes-Braem, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categories. Cognitive Psychology, 8, 382–439. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(76)90013-X
Sandoval, T. C., Gollan, T. H., Ferreira, V. S., & Salmon, D. P. (2010). What causes the bilingual advantage in verbal fluency? The dual-task analogy. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(2), 231–252. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728909990514
Schlosser, R. W. (1997). Nomenclature of category levels in graphic symbols, part II: Role of similarity in categorization. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 13, 14–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/07434619712331277808
Suffill, E., Branigan, H., & Pickering, M. (2019). Novel labels increase category coherence, but only when people have the goal to coordinate. Cognitive Science, 43(11), 1–17. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1111/cogs.12796
Vinas-Guasch, N., Gathercole, V., & Stadthagen-Gonzalez, H. (2017). Bilingualism and the semantic-conceptual interface: The influence of language on categorization. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20(5), 965–979. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000754
Woodcock, R. W., Munoz-Sandoval, A. F., Ruef, M. L., & Alvarado, C. G. (2005). Woodcock-Muñoz language survey – revised, English. Riverside.
