The masked cognate translation priming effect for different-script bilinguals is modulated by the phonological similarity of cognate words: Further support for the phonological account

• Published in: Journal of cognitive psychology (Hove, England) Vol. 26; no. 7; pp. 714 - 724
• Main Authors: Nakayama, Mariko, Verdonschot, Rinus G., Sears, Christopher R., Lupker, Stephen J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 03.10.2014; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Bilingualism; Bilingualism. Multilingualism; Biological and medical sciences; Cognates; Different-script bilinguals; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Language; Masked priming; Phonology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Human; Word; Priming effect; Cognition; Experimental study; Masked priming; Different-script bilinguals; Language; Cognates; Translating; Phonology; Bilingualism; Masking; Stimulus similarity
• ISSN: 2044-5911; 2044-592X
• DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2014.953167

The effect of phonological similarity on L1-L2 cognate translation priming was examined with Japanese-English bilinguals. According to the phonological account, the cognate priming effect for different-script bilinguals consists of additive effects of phonological and conceptual facilitation. If true, then the size of the cognate priming effect would be directly influenced by the phonological similarity of cognate translation equivalents. The present experiment tested and confirmed this prediction: the cognate priming effect was significantly larger for cognate prime-target pairs with high-phonological similarity than pairs with low-phonological similarity. Implications for the nature of lexical processing in same-versus different-script bilinguals are discussed.