Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2020 Sep;73(9):1481-1494. doi: 10.1177/1747021820916108. Epub 2020 May 24.
The aim of this study was to examine language switching in a two-digit number naming task. In contrast to single digits, two-digit numbers have a composition rule (i.e., morphological configuration) that may differ between languages. For example, the Arabic number 21 is read with an inverted composition rule in German (unit before decade) and a non-inverted composition rule in English (decade before unit). In the present experiment, one group of German native speakers and one group of Spanish native speakers had to name two-digit numbers in German, English, or Spanish. The results demonstrate a language-switch cost, revealing better performance in language repetition than in language-switch trials. This switch cost was further modulated by repeating or switching the composition rule, since the language repetition benefit (i.e., the switch cost) was reduced in trials with composition-rule switches compared with trials with composition-rule repetitions. This finding indicates that the language in which the number word has to be produced and its composition rule are not switched independently but rather may be integrated into one language schema.
本研究旨在考察在两位数命名任务中的语言转换。与单个数字不同，两位数有一个组成规则（即形态结构），在不同语言之间可能有所不同。例如，阿拉伯数字 21 在德语中以颠倒的组成规则读出（单位在前，十位在后），而在英语中则以非颠倒的组成规则读出（十位在前，单位在后）。在本实验中，一组德语母语者和一组西班牙语母语者必须用德语、英语或西班牙语说出两位数。结果表明存在语言转换成本，即在语言重复试验中的表现优于在语言转换试验中的表现。这种转换成本进一步受到重复或切换组成规则的调节，因为与组成规则重复的试验相比，在组成规则转换的试验中，语言重复的益处（即转换成本）降低了。这一发现表明，必须生成数字词的语言及其组成规则不是独立转换的，而是可能整合到一个语言模式中。
