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Bilingual Dual Coding Theory and Memory

  • Chapter
Foundations of Bilingual Memory

Abstract

This chapter updates the dual coding theory (DCT) of the memory systems of bilingual (and multilingual) individuals. DCT is a particular variant of multiple storage views of memory that contrast with common coding (single store) views.

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Internet Sites Related to Dual Coding Theory and Bilingualism

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, 1205-22 Picton Street, N6B 3R5, London, ON, Canada

    Allan Paivio

Authors
  1. Allan Paivio
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Communication, Texas A&M International University, Laredo Texas, USA

    Roberto R. Heredia

  2. Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany New York, USA

    Jeanette Altarriba

Appendices

Keywords and Concepts

Adaptive functions, Bilingual dual coding theory, Conceptual peg hypothesis, Concreteness, Dual coding theory (DCT), Imagery, Logogens, Mental representation, Peg hypothesis, Representational connections, Representational units, Second-language immersion, Verbal associative connections

Thought Questions

  1. 1.

    Why are pictures remembered better than words?

  2. 2.

    Why do you think concrete words are remembered better than abstract words?

  3. 3.

    Think about abstract words and emotional words. What are some differences and similarities between these two types of words? Is DCT able to explain differences between abstract and emotional words?

  4. 4.

    Can you explain how bilinguals organize their two languages using DCT?

  5. 5.

    During recall or recognition, studying bilingual words (e.g., house-casa) leads to better memory retrieval, later on, than studying monolingual words (e.g., house-home). Using the bilingual DCT, can you explain why this is the case?

Applied Issues in Learning and Memory in the Acquisition of an L2 and Vocabulary Learning

As noted previously, the notion that DCT can be applied to the learning of foreign language vocabulary is an important issue, particularly with regard to the increasing role that bilingualism and multilingualism plays in a variety of communicative transactions. Knowing how best to teach an L2 has never been more important than it is now, particularly in countries in which the change in demographics asks for more effective means of learning a new language. Moreover, given the notions of possible critical periods in learning new languages, methods that incorporate the theory and conceptual underpinnings of the DCT stand to go a long way toward creating visually aided techniques for language learning that could cut across the various nuances of specific languages per se and render the field a means of learning languages that can be easily imported into learning scenarios regardless of the nature of the language or languages being acquired.

Suggested Projects

  1. 1.

    Find the article by Paivio and Csapo (1973), listed in the suggested readings, and use it as a model to replicate the concreteness effect using bilingual participants. Experiment 1 involves pictures and words (concrete vs. abstract) as well as other experimental conditions. For this project, investigate differences between concrete and abstract words and present each word for about two seconds. In this experiment, participants will be asked to study a series of English words and after the study phase, they will be asked to remember as many words as possible, in any order. Choose your English words from http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Online/paivio/. This word generator allows you to randomly select words, controlling for word frequency, and meaningfulness. Keep your professor informed and request your institution’s approval before you start the experiment. Follow the procedures as close as possible. Download a free trial version of E-Prime (http://www.pstnet.com/eprime.cfm) experiment builder for the Windows operating system and visit http://www.step.psy.cmu.edu/scripts/index.html for sample scripts relevant to pictures and words. It is very likely that you will end up modifying the sample script for your specific needs. You can also create your own experiment by using existing office suites (http://www.openoffice.org/libreoffice.org) or by downloading a version of this experiment by visiting http://www.tamiu.edu/~rheredia/Concreteness.zip. For the OS X (Macintosh) operating system, download PsyScope (http:/www./psy.ck.sissa.it/, and a sample experiment script from http://www.tamiu.edu/~rheredia/Pictures_Words.zip. After you complete and analyze your data, discuss your results with your professor and class. Were you able to replicate the concreteness effect?

  2. 2.

    For this second project, you will expand the experiment described in (1) to include Spanish and English words (or any language combination). This experiment will be more involved; it is probably a good idea to learn how to use PsyScope or OpenSesame (http://www.osdoc.cogsci.nl/), another free software experiment builder. A tutorial on how to use OpenSesame can be accessed from Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = -zMH65re1m0&feature = youtu.be). You can simplify your experiment by excluding the picture condition. Simple and straightforward experiments are preferable than complex ones. Experiments with too many experimental conditions or variables are difficult to analyze and require too many participants. For your English concrete and abstract words, choose a different set from the online word generator described in (1). Spanish abstract and concrete words can be selected from the Spanish online Database ESPAL (http://www.expweb.bcbl.eu/espal/wordidx.php). As you select your experimental stimuli, avoid cognates or words across languages with overlapping phonological and semantic representations (e.g., computer in English vs. computadora in Spanish), as well as false cognates, or words that appear to be cognates, but are not (e.g., pan as in cooking utensil in English vs. pan as in bread in Spanish). After you run your experiment, please report your results to your professor and to your class. Were you able to replicate the concreteness effect in both languages? Did you notice differences in retrieval between the Spanish and English words? Were your participants fluent in both languages?

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Paivio, A. (2014). Bilingual Dual Coding Theory and Memory. In: Heredia, R., Altarriba, J. (eds) Foundations of Bilingual Memory. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9218-4_3

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