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Electrophysiological correlates of emotion word processing in Spanish–English bilinguals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2020

Idaly Vélez-Uribe  and
Mónica Rosselli
Idaly Vélez-Uribe
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL, USA
Mónica Rosselli*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Mónica Rosselli, E-mail: mrossell@fau.edu
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Abstract

We examined how proficiency influences the processing of emotion words in Spanish–English bilinguals (22 balanced and 20 unbalanced). All unbalanced bilinguals were more proficient in English than Spanish. Participants rated the valence of negative, neutral, and positive words in both languages while EEG was being recorded. ERP latencies and amplitudes were analyzed for two components. The language effect was significant on the late positive component (LPC) amplitude, which was larger for emotion than for neutral words for both groups in English. The unbalanced group presented larger LPC amplitudes for positive than for neutral and for neutral than for negative words in Spanish, suggesting emotion processing differences in these participants’ less proficient language. Valence effects were consistent across languages for the balanced group, but not for the unbalanced group, perhaps reflecting differences in reactivity to emotion words in the less proficient language.

Keywords

bilingualismSpanish–Englishemotionslanguage proficiencyEEGERPs
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 31 - 55
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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