Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Illusory Transparency in Bilinguals: Does Language of Text Affect Bilingual Readers’ Perspective Taking in Reading?

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Readers of narrative texts tend to incorrectly assess the knowledge of story characters, particularly as authors sometimes provide readers privileged information that is unknown to the story characters. This error, labeled the illusory transparency of intention Keysar (Cognitive Psychology 26:165-208, 1994) shows how readers assume that privileged information is also known by story characters; this error is assumed to indicate a general difficulty individuals have in taking the perspective of others. The study investigates whether bilingual readers also demonstrate the illusory transparency effect when reading in their two languages, and tests the hypothesis that the languages activate different cultural mindsets that may or may not enhance the error. In two studies, 175 Filipino-English bilinguals were presented narrative passages in English and Filipino containing positive or negative privileged information that was either spoken or written by one of the characters. Participants assessed how a character would respond to an ambiguous remark by another character. In both studies, privileged information influenced readers’ ratings in both languages, demonstrating the illusory transparency effect in bilinguals. Study 1 did not show a moderating effect of language, but Study 2 (which had higher observed statistical power) revealed a significant moderating effect of language, where the illusory transparency effect was stronger in English texts. The results support the hypothesis that the English language primed the individualist mindset that was not supportive of cognitive processes that consider perspectives of others. The results are discussed in terms of how language plays an indirect role in shaping thought processes involved in perspective taking.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baron-Cohen, S., Lombardo, M., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Cohen, D. (Eds.). (2013). Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from developmental social neuroscience. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bautista, D., Mitchelmore, M., & Mulligan, J. (2009a). Factors influencing Filipino children’s solutions to addition and subtraction word problems. Educational Psychology, 29(6), 729–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bautista, D., Mulligan, J. T., & Mitchelmore, M. (2009b). Young Filipino students making sense of arithmetic word problems in English. Journal of Science and Mathematics Education in Southeast Asia, 32(2), 131–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I. (1998). Language format and analogical transfer among bilingual problem solvers in the Philippines. International Journal of Psychology, 33(1), 33–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I. (1999). Overcoming obstacles to understanding and solving word problems in mathematics. Educational Psychology, 19(2), 149–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I. (2000). On defining and developing literacy across communities. International Review of Education, 46(5), 455–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I. (2002). Language and mathematical problem solving among bilinguals. The Journal of Psychology, 136, 283–297.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I. (2004). McKinley’s questionable bequest: Over 100 years of English in Philippine Education. World Englishes, 23, 17–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I. (2005). Language and modeling word problems in mathematics among bilinguals. The Journal of Psychology, 139, 413–425.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I. (2007). Language in Philippine education: Rethinking old fallacies, exploring new alternatives amidst globalization. In T. R. F. Tupas & (Re) making society (Eds.), The politics of language, discourse and identity in the Philippines (pp. 1–26). Quezon City: University of the Philippine Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardo, A. B. I., & Calleja, M. O. (2005). The effects of stating problems in bilingual students’ first and second languages on solving mathematical word problems. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 166(1), 117–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Birch, S. A., & Bloom, P. (2004). Understanding children’s and adults’ limitations in mental state reasoning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(6), 255–260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Birch, S. A., & Bloom, P. (2007). The curse of knowledge in reasoning about false beliefs. Psychological Science, 18(5), 382–386.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, C. Y., Leung, K. Y. A., & Kwan, L. (2007). Language, cognition, and culture: The Whorfian hypothesis and beyond. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 668–688). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epley, N., & Caruso, E. (2008). Perspective-taking: Misstepping into others’ shoes. In K. Markman, W. Klein, & J. Suhr (Eds.), The handbook of imagination and mental stimulation (pp. 295–309). New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epley, N., Keysar, B., Van Boven, L., & Gilovich, T. (2004a). Perspective taking as egocentric anchoring and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 327–339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Epley, N., Morewedge, C. K., & Keysar, B. (2004b). Perspective taking in children and adults: Equivalent egocentrism but differential correction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(6), 760–768.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flavell, J. H., Everett, B. A., Croft, K., & Flavell, E. R. (1981). Young children’s knowledge about visual perception: Further evidence for the Level 1–Level 2 distinction. Developmental Psychology, 17(1), 99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerrig, R. J., & Bernardo, A. B. I. (1994). Readers as problem solvers in the experience of suspense. Poetics, 22, 459–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerrig, R. J., Ohaeri, J. O., & Brennan, S. E. (2000). Illusory transparency revisited. Discourse Processes, 29, 137–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilovich, T., & Savitsky, K. (1999). The spotlight effect and the illusion of transparency: Egocentric assessments of how we are seen by others. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8, 165–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, D. W., Dunning, D., & Ross, L. (1990). The role of construal processes in overconfident predictions about the self and others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1128–1139.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ilustre, C. A. P. (2011). Beliefs about reading, metacognitive strategies and text comprehension among college students in a private university. Philippine ESL Journal, 7, 28–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeon, E. H., & Yamashita, J. (2014). L2 reading comprehension and its correlates: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 64, 160–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji, L. J., Zhang, Z., & Nisbett, R. E. (2004). Is it culture or is it language? Examination of language effects in cross-cultural research on categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 57–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kemmelmeier, M., & Cheng, B. Y. M. (2004). Language and self-construal priming: A replication and extension in a Hong Kong sample. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35(6), 705–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keysar, B. (1994). The illusory transparency of intention: Linguistic perspective taking in text. Cognitive Psychology, 26, 165–208.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keysar, B. (2000). The illusory transparency of intention: Does June understand what Mark means because he means it? Discourse Processes, 29, 161–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keysar, B., & Bly, B. (1995). Intuitions of the transparency of idioms: Can one keep a secret by spilling the beans? Journal of Memory and Language, 34, 89–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. W., Oyserman, D., & Bond, M. H. (2010). Am I doing better than you? That depends on whether you ask me in English or Chinese: Self-enhancement effects of language as a cultural mindset prime. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(5), 785–791.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leslie, A. M. (1991). The theory of mind impairment in autism: Evidence for a modular mechanism of development? In A. Whiten (Ed.), Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading (pp. 63–78). Cambridge: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, D., Wong, K. K., & McBride-Chang, C. (2012). Reading motivation and reading comprehension in Chinese and English among bilingual students. Reading and Writing, 25(3), 717–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luk, K. K., Xiao, W. S., & Cheung, H. (2012). Cultural effect on perspective taking in Chinese–English bilinguals. Cognition, 124(3), 350–355.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mante, M. J. (2009). College students’ awareness and use of metacognitive reading strategies. RAP Journal, 32, 44–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mante-Estacio, M. J. (2012). Dimensions of reading motivation of Filipino bilinguals. TESOL Journal, 7, 10–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mante-Estacio, M. J. (2013). Bilingual readers’ metacognitive strategies as predictors of reading comprehension. Philippine ESL, 10, 179–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, I. P. (2014). Philippine English revisited. World Englishes, 33(1), 50–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melby-Lervåg, M., & Lervåg, A. (2011). Cross-linguistic transfer of oral language, decoding, phonological awareness and reading comprehension: a meta‐analysis of the correlational evidence. Journal of Research in Reading, 34(1), 114–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Ríos, S., Rodríguez-Menchen, M. A., & Rodríguez-Gualda, I. (2011). Bias in perspective-taking during reading: Adjusting the knowledge of characters. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(7), 1977–1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mori, S. (2002). Redefining motivation to read in a foreign language. Reading in a Foreign language, 14(2), 91–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nickerson, R. (1999). How we know-and sometimes misjudge-what others know: Imputing one’s own knowledge to others. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 737–759.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., & Lee, S. W. (2008). Does culture influence what and how we think? Effects of priming individualism and collectivism. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 311–342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., Coon, H. M., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 128(1), 3–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., Sorensen, N., Reber, R., & Chen, S. X. (2009). Connecting and separating mindsets: culture as situated cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(2), 217–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. C. (1995). Individualism and collectivism. Boulder: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, D., & Gerong, A. (1999). Language of response and the spontaneous self-concept: A test of the cultural accommodation hypothesis. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 30(1), 115–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weingartner, K. M., & Klin, C. M. (2005). Perspective taking during reading: An on-line investigation of the illusory transparency of intention. Memory & Cognition, 33(1), 48–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001). Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: The truth about false belief. Child Development, 72(3), 655–684.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, S., & Keysar, B. (2007). The effect of culture on perspective taking. Psychological Science, 18(7), 600–606.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by a grant from De La Salle University’s University Research Coordination Office (URCO Proj. No. 06 F U 1 10). The authors thank Rose Franchesca Cruz, Guadalupe Salanga, and Gemma Soneja for various forms of assistance during the different phases of the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

    Ma. Joahna Mante-Estacio

  2. Department of Psychology, E21-3060 Humanities and Social Sciences Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade Taipa, Macau, SAR, China

    Allan B. I. Bernardo

Authors
  1. Ma. Joahna Mante-Estacio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Allan B. I. Bernardo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Allan B. I. Bernardo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mante-Estacio, M.J., Bernardo, A.B.I. Illusory Transparency in Bilinguals: Does Language of Text Affect Bilingual Readers’ Perspective Taking in Reading?. Curr Psychol 34, 744–752 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9286-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9286-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation