Bilingual false recognition: examining inferences and language tagging in the dual-language context

Abstract

Purpose: Inference-making is a critical process in understanding and processing information daily. People synthesize inputs into a whole and retain the whole (gist) instead of specific parts (verbatim). False recognition of inferred information offers evidence for it. We conducted two studies to examine whether memory errors occurred similarly when bilinguals were tested separately and concurrently on two languages, and whether bilinguals remembered the language in which the information was received (language tag).Methodology: We recruited Turkish native speakers who spoke English as a second language. After inducing spatial inferences about objects, we tested participants on configuration, sentence recognition, and language recognition in Turkish, English, and dual-language conditions. We measured their second language proficiency and executive functioning with standardized assessments.Data and analysis: We performed within-subjects analyses of covariance to investigate the within-language differences in sentence recognition and the role of individual cognitive differences (N = 34 in Experiment 1, N = 48 in Experiment 2).Findings: Experiment 1 showed that inferences were falsely recognized in L1 (Turkish) and L2 (English) conditions, but not in the dual-language. We found no effect of individual cognitive differences. In Experiment 2, we replicated Experiment 1 and found that false recognition of inferred sentences was predicted more by lower executive functions (EF) scores and higher second language proficiency. In both experiments, participants accurately identified the language tag. Higher EF scores predicted higher tag accuracy. We conclude that inferring information in the second language induces memory errors, and inferences are tagged with the language of encoding.Originality: We used an ecologically valid sentence-level paradigm to test inferences and their connection to bilingual false memories in the second language and dual-language contexts. We explored the individual differences in language and cognitive abilities.Significance: Bilingual information processing is influenced significantly by exposure to stimuli, task difficulty, the language context, and language proficiency.