Lozano Itziar, Duszyk-Bogorodzka Anna, Ribu Ingeborg Sophie, Falkiewicz Natalia, Ogonowska Wiktoria, Dynak Agnieszka, Köder Franziska, Tomalski Przemysław, Fryzowska Ewelina, Krajewski Grzegorz, Rummelhoff Cecilie, Varona Elena C, Krupa-Gaweł Karolina, Laumann Lisa, Garmann Nina Gram, Haman Ewa
Department of Cognitive Psychology and Neurocognitive Science. Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; Neurocognitive Development Lab, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.
Behavioural Neuroscience Lab, Institute of Psychology, SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2025 Jul 23;75:101599. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101599.
Semantic integration is a mechanism of lexical-semantic processing. When indexed by N400, it emerges coupled with the vocabulary spurt in the second year. To what extent maturation and language exposure contribute to its development remains unclear. Bilingual toddlers split their time between two languages. While experiencing similar concepts as monolinguals, bilinguals are less exposed to each language's words. This makes them a key group to disentangle the relative contribution of maturation and language exposure in the emergence of semantic integration. We investigate (1) whether bilinguals follow the same developmental trajectory of semantic integration as monolinguals, and (2) whether semantic integration differs between bilinguals' dominant and non-dominant languages across time. If language exposure drives semantic integration, we expect earlier timing of onset of semantic integration in monolinguals than bilinguals and language-dominance effects within bilinguals. In this event-related potential mixed longitudinal and cross-sectional study (N=131), bilingual and monolingual 18- and 24-month-olds were shown a picture-word priming-paradigm. We found N400 effect at 18 and 24 months in monolinguals. Bilinguals showed no evidence of N400 effect in either the dominant or non-dominant language at any time-point. Although the bilingual sample was smaller than planned, our results contribute to general neurodevelopmental and dual language acquisition models.
语义整合是一种词汇语义加工机制。当以N400为指标时，它在第二年与词汇量激增同时出现。成熟度和语言接触对其发展的贡献程度仍不清楚。双语幼儿会在两种语言之间分配时间。虽然双语幼儿与单语幼儿经历相似的概念，但他们接触每种语言词汇的机会较少。这使他们成为厘清成熟度和语言接触在语义整合出现过程中相对贡献的关键群体。我们研究：（1）双语幼儿的语义整合发展轨迹是否与单语幼儿相同；（2）双语幼儿的优势语言和非优势语言在不同时间的语义整合是否存在差异。如果语言接触驱动语义整合，我们预计单语幼儿的语义整合开始时间早于双语幼儿，且双语幼儿内部存在语言优势效应。在这项事件相关电位混合纵向和横断面研究中（N = 131），我们向18个月和24个月大的双语和单语幼儿展示了图片-单词启动范式。我们在单语幼儿的18个月和24个月时发现了N400效应。双语幼儿在任何时间点的优势语言或非优势语言中均未显示出N400效应的证据。尽管双语样本比计划的小，但我们的结果有助于完善一般神经发育和双语习得模型。
