Autobiographical memory in bilinguals

Memory, 2014

An important issue in theories of bilingual autobiographical memory is whether linguistically encoded memories are represented in language-specific stores or in a common language-independent store. Previous research has found that autobiographical memory retrieval is facilitated when the language of the cue is the same as the language of encoding, consistent with language-specific memory stores. The present study examined whether this language congruency effect is influenced by cue imageability. Danish-English bilinguals retrieved autobiographical memories in response to Danish and English highor low-imageability cues. Retrieval latencies were shorter to Danish than English cues and shorter to high-than low-imageability cues. Importantly, the cue language effect was stronger for low-than highimageability cues. To examine the relationship between cue language and the language of internal retrieval, participants identified the language in which the memories were internally retrieved. More memories were retrieved when the cue language was the same as the internal language than when the cue was in the other language, and more memories were identified as being internally retrieved in Danish than English, regardless of the cue language. These results provide further evidence for language congruency effects in bilingual memory and suggest that this effect is influenced by cue imageability.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2000

Two studies of autobiographical memory explored the hypothesis that memories become more accessible when the linguistic environment at retrieval matches the linguistic environment at encoding. In Experiment 1, Russian-English bilinguals were asked to recall specific life experiences in response to word prompts. The results supported the hypothesis of language-dependent recall: Participants retrieved more experiences from the Russian-speaking period of their lives when interviewed in Russian and more experiences from the English-speaking period of their lives when interviewed in English. In Experiment 2, the language of the interview was varied independently from the language of the word prompts. Both variables were found to influence autobiographical recall. These findings show that language at the time of retrieval, like other forms of context, plays a significant role in determining what will be remembered.

Journal of Memory and Language, 1998

Journal of Memory and Language, 2004

Autobiographical memories retrieved by bicultural Russian-English bilinguals were compared across languages. Results suggest that bilinguals' languages may influence cognitive styles, so that when speaking a language associated with a more individualistic culture, bilinguals produce more individualistic narratives, whereas when speaking a language associated with a more collectivist culture, bilinguals produce more collectivist narratives, regardless of language of encoding, or main agent in the narrative. Moreover, bilinguals expressed more intense affect when speaking the same language at the time of retrieval that they spoke at the time when the event took place. The positive/negative emotional valence of autobiographical narratives was influenced by language and age at the time of the event and by the main agent in the narrative. It is proposed that memories and self-narratives in bilinguals are mediated by the language spoken at any given time and that language functions as a vehicle for culture, with cultural differences seeping into language and influencing cognitive styles and the self.

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International Journal of Bilingualism, 2003

Bilingualism is tantalizing for behavioral and social scientists because of the close relation between human experience and the language we use to negotiate, interpret, and direct it. Anecdotally and scientifically we cannot help but ask: Does speaking multiple languages give one multiple "takes" on the world? And as our experiences of life flow through the present into the personal past, we wonder if they are uniquely marked by the linguistic and cultural frames in which they were set. The memory researcher sees in these questions the opportunity to investigate a particular kind of memory: episodic memory. It is distinguished from semantic memory, which is memory for facts about the world. We can know that 2 + 2 = 4, that Islam and Christianity are both religions "of the book," that Aunt Ellen married Uncle Joe in 1954, and a host of other facts about the world without remembering how or where we learned those things. These are semantic memories. In fact, as we shall see below, we have some very good theories about bilingual semantic memory. Episodic memory, on the other hand, is memory-for-eventsthat-we-have-personally-experienced. They can be quite simple (e.g. "I remember the alarm clock this morning") and they can be amazingly complex (e.g. "I remember trying to get my sister to forgive my brother for not showing up at her wedding"). Oddly enough, while bilingualism might color such memories in intriguing ways, we have little in the way of theories about it. In presenting the papers in this special issue, each addressing bilingual memory in its own way, we take the opportunity to outline such a theory. The paper is divided into three sections. The first describes the point of departure for our theorizing by providing a brief review of two current models of bilingual (semantic) memory and a presentation of our current understanding of episodic memory in general. A second section explores two sets of questions: (a) how are semantic and episodic memory related, and how might bilingualism shed some light on this relation? and (b) what role does language play in episodic memory? In the third section, we offer a rudimentary model of bilingual episodic memory.

MEMORY-HOVE-, 2002

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2002

Bilingualism, or the knowledge of more than one language, is quite prevalent throughout the world. However, much of the cognitive literature that exists on language processing and memory retrieval has included participants who are monolingual speakers. The current chapter introduces the ways in which bilingualism has been investigated in the areas of autobiographical memory, memory recall, and communication in applied settings. The notion of code-switching or language-mixing is introduced as a strategic means through which bilingual memory may be fruitfully investigated.

Foundations of Bilingual Memory, 2014

In this chapter, we consider how bilingualism affects memory for events from one’s personal past, such as a person’s first day of school many years prior or a conversation held just a few hours ago. We first review studies indicating that the language a bilingual is using at retrieval improves access to experiences that were encoded when that same language was being used. Next, we discuss research showing that how a bilingual encodes and retrieves episodic memories depends on the linguistic structure and cultural associations of the specific language the bilingual is using. Finally, we consider research suggesting that the cognitive and linguistic consequences of long-term bilingual experience can affect encoding and retrieval and might lead bilinguals to show enhanced memory for non-linguistic aspects of events and poorer memory for linguistic aspects. Collectively, these studies reveal that learning and using two languages affects what bilinguals remember and how well they remember it.

The Mental Lexicon, 2008

Cross-linguistic differences in emotionality of autobiographical memories were examined by eliciting memories of immigration from bilingual speakers. Forty-seven Russian-English bilinguals were asked to recount their immigration experiences in either Russian or English. Bilinguals used more emotion words when describing their immigration experiences in the second language (English) than in the first language (Russian). Bilinguals' immigration narratives contained more negative emotion words than positive emotion words. In addition, language preference (but not language proficiency) influenced results, with emotional expression amplified when speaking in the preferred language. These findings carry implications for organization of the bilingual lexicon and the special status of emotion words within it. We suggest that bilinguals' expression of emotion may vary across languages and that the linguistic and affective systems are interconnected in the bilingual cognitive architecture.