Department of Basic Psychology, Psychobiology and Methodology of Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
PLoS One. 2023 May 11;18(5):e0285747. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285747. eCollection 2023.
In the globalized world we live in, it is increasingly common for people to speak more than one language. Although research in psychology has been widely interested in the study of false memories with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, to date, there is a scarcity of studies comparing false memories in the first and the second language (L1 and L2, respectively). It is noteworthy that one of the most studied variables in the DRM paradigm, the backward associative strength (BAS), has hardly been studied in the L2. Moreover, the only study that recently examined this matter found differences in the knowledge of L2-word meaning between the high-BAS and low-BAS lists, which would hinder the interpretation of the BAS effect in L2 false memories. Taking all this into account, the current work examined false memories in the L1 (Spanish) and the L2 (English) as a function of BAS overcoming the limitations of the previous study. We selected DRM lists using both Spanish and English free association norms and lists were constructed to vary in BAS values while controlling the knowledge of word meaning. Results showed that false recognition was greater in the L1 or dominant language than in the L2 or non-dominant language. Furthermore, BAS modulated the false recognition in both the L1 and the L2. That is, false recognition was higher in high-BAS than low-BAS lists in both languages. Sensitivity index from the signal-detection theory helped us gain further insight into these results. The main findings are discussed in the light of theoretical models from both the false memory and the second language processing literature. Finally, practical implications and future research are provided.
在我们生活的全球化世界中，越来越多的人会说不止一种语言。尽管心理学研究广泛关注使用 Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) 范式的虚假记忆研究，但迄今为止，比较第一语言 (L1) 和第二语言 (L2) 中的虚假记忆的研究很少。值得注意的是，DRM 范式中研究最多的变量之一——反向联想强度 (BAS)，在 L2 中几乎没有被研究过。此外，最近唯一一项研究该问题的研究发现，高 BAS 和低 BAS 列表之间的 L2 单词含义知识存在差异，这将阻碍 L2 虚假记忆中 BAS 效应的解释。考虑到这一切，当前的工作检查了 L1（西班牙语）和 L2（英语）中的虚假记忆，作为克服先前研究局限性的方法。我们使用西班牙语和英语自由联想规范选择了 DRM 列表，并构建了不同 BAS 值的列表，同时控制单词含义的知识。结果表明，母语或主导语言中的错误识别率高于第二语言或非主导语言。此外，BAS 调节了 L1 和 L2 中的错误识别。也就是说，在两种语言中，高 BAS 列表的错误识别率都高于低 BAS 列表。信号检测理论的敏感性指数帮助我们进一步深入了解这些结果。根据虚假记忆和第二语言处理文献中的理论模型讨论了主要发现。最后，提供了实际意义和未来研究。
