L1 production following brief L2 exposure: Evidence for cross-talk across comprehension and production.

Language control allows bilinguals to fluently shift between their languages. Here, we tested whether comprehension and production tasks initiate language control processes to the same extent, and whether these processes operate over specific concepts or globally. Seventy Hebrew-English bilinguals completed an L1 picture-naming production task in the first and third blocks, and either a reading aloud (word production) or an animacy judgment (word comprehension) task in their L2 in the second block. Further, concepts were either repeated across blocks or not. Results showed more filled pauses in the third block relative to the first block. Additionally, the size of this blocked-language order effect was similar following word production and word comprehension tasks in the L2, suggesting that production and comprehension tasks were similarly efficient in instigating control processes. Finally, both recurring and new concepts were affected, suggesting that mostly global language control is at play. These findings provide constraining evidence for fully understanding the scope of bilingual language control.

The effect of speed-accuracy trade-off on attribute-framing bias.

Attribute-framing bias reflects people's tendency to evaluate objects framed positively more favorably than the same objects framed negatively. Although biased by the framing valence, evaluations are nevertheless calibrated to the magnitude of the target attribute. In three experiments that manipulated magnitudes in different ways, we examined to what extent encouraging speeded or accurate responses affected the bias of evaluations and their calibration. Results revealed a dissociation between the biasing effect of framing valence and the calibrated effect of magnitude. The bias was increased in the speeded conditions relative to the accurate conditions. However, the calibration was affected by the speed-accuracy manipulation only in negative and not in positive framing conditions. We discuss the advantage of fuzzy-trace theory in explaining these results, suggesting that gist representations elicit the bias, whereas verbatim representations allow calibration. However, the relative contributions of these representations to evaluation vary with task demands such as speed-accuracy requirements. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The psychometric properties of the Varieties of Inner Speech Questionnaire-Revised in Hebrew.

Introduction: The Varieties of Inner Speech Questionnaire-Revised (VISQ-R) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure characteristics of inner speech. In the current study, we adapted and validated a Hebrew version of VISQ-R. Our first hypothesis was that Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the Hebrew VISQ-R would confirm the five subscales replicating the factor structure of the original questionnaire. In addition, building on previous findings that inner speech is involved in tasks that require the executive functions we examined the relationship between VISQ-R and self-reported executive functions questionnaire (BRIEF-A). We hypothesized that correlations between subscales of the Hebrew VISQ-R would reveal covariance between BRIEF-A and some but not all inner speech subscales. Methods: 406 participants completed the Hebrew VISQ-R and 280 of them also completed the BRIEF-A. Results: As hypothesized, CFA confirmed the factor structure revealing the same 5 subscales reported in the original English version, with acceptable internal reliability. Partial support was found for the hypothesized correlations between VISQ-R and BRIEF-A, with covariance of executive functions with some subscales of inner speech (Evaluative, Other-People and Dialogic), and distinct variance with others (Condensed and Positive). Discussion: These results indicate that the Hebrew version of the VISQ-R has good psychometric properties and that it can be used in future research. The implications concerning the contribution of inner speech for people with difficulties in executive functions are discussed.

Framing fake news: Asymmetric attribute-framing bias for favorable and unfavorable outcomes.

Attribute-framing bias (AFB) refers to addressees' bias in evaluating positively framed objects (80% success) more favorably than negatively framed ones (20% failure), although they are logically equivalent. The novelty of the current study is in examining conditions in which AFB occurs or does not occur. Typically, AFB is examined for favorable outcomes (e.g., 80% success / 20% failure); the current study extended the examination to unfavorable outcomes (e.g., 80% failure / 20% success). According to fuzzy-trace theory, information is encoded both as a detailed verbatim representation and as a fuzzy gist representation, and AFB is elicited by the vague gist representations that maintain either the positive or the negative valence of the message. The current study offers a novel insight into the relationship between gist and verbatim representations in AFB by examining how it is moderated by the favorability of the outcomes. In three experiments, we focused on the perceived reliability of news items. As fake news has become an issue of major concern, some news media publish truthfulness evaluations; however, the framing of such evaluations may bias the perceived reliability of news. Hence, we examined to what extent the favorability of the outcomes moderated AFB in perceived news reliability. The results showed that attribute framing biased the perceived reliability of news when truthfulness outcomes were favorable (80% true / 20% fake) but not when outcomes were unfavorable (20% true / 80% fake). We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings to the understanding of AFB and their practical implications concerning the perceived reliability of news. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Food Attention Bias: appetite comes with eating.

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive interventions may be effective in weight loss. The purpose of this study was to assess if cognitive reappraisal (CR; reframing the meaning of a stimulus in order to change the resulting emotional response), can reduce food attentional bias (FAB) using the Visual Dot Probe (VDP) paradigm. METHOD: 126 participants (age 27 ± 5.8) were randomly assigned either to a CR or to a control (CN) group. After assessing baseline VDP levels for FAB, participants either wrote sentences that discourage eating fattening food or neutral sentences. Next, all participants performed the VDP post intervention. Participants also self-reported on disordered eating behaviors and their height and weight were charted. We hypothesized that CR would reduce FAB and that disordered eating would moderate the association between group and FAB. RESULTS: FAB decreased post intervention, specifically in the CR group. The bulimia sub-scale showed an interaction between bulimic eating, time and group. Among those who were high on the bulimia scale, the CR group showed lower FAB post-intervention compared to the CN group. DISCUSSION: This study suggests that CR may decrease the attentional bias toward high-calorie food compared to other strategies in the general population and among people with high bulimia measures, in particular. Obesity has a negative impact on many aspects of life and much research is dedicated to trying to better understand behaviors concerning obesity. People are prone to focus their attention on things that are of importance to them, such as food. When people focus their attention on food, we call this Food Attention Bias (FAB). Cognitive reappraisal (CR) interventions involve the person's conscious cognitive change of the meaning of the situation aiming to consequently change the emotional response to it, such as saying to yourself "I shouldn't eat this because I don't want to get fat". CR has been found to be helpful in lowering FAB using brain imagining techniques but has not yet been studied in cognitive processes. Our study used a Visual dot probe paradigm (VDP) to assess the efficacy of CR on lowering FAB. Two groups, one using CR and a control group were assessed twice on FAB, using the VDP paradigm. Compared to the normal condition, the CR intervention helped reduce FAB. This reduction was especially significant for people with a higher tendency for bulimic behavior. The VDP paradigm, utilizing CR. can be expanded to help build an intervention aimed at reducing FAB over time. This, in turn might bring to weight reduction. People with bulimic tendencies might especially benefit from CR interventions when dealing with weight loss.

First Language Attrition: What It Is, What It Isn't, and What It Can Be.

This review aims at clarifying the concept of first language attrition by tracing its limits, identifying its phenomenological and contextual constraints, discussing controversies associated with its definition, and suggesting potential directions for future research. We start by reviewing different definitions of attrition as well as associated inconsistencies. We then discuss the underlying mechanisms of first language attrition and review available evidence supporting different background hypotheses. Finally, we attempt to provide the groundwork to build a unified theoretical framework allowing for generalizable results. To this end, we suggest the deployment of a rigorous neuroscientific approach, in search of neural markers of first language attrition in different linguistic domains, putting forward hypothetical experimental ways to identify attrition's neural traces and formulating predictions for each of the proposed experimental paradigms.

Small temporal asynchronies between the two eyes in binocular reading: Crosslinguistic data and the implications for ocular prevalence.

We investigated small temporal nonalignments between the two eyes' fixations in the reading of English and Chinese. We define nine different patterns of asynchrony and report their spatial distribution across the screen of text. We interpret them in terms of their implications for ocular prevalence-prioritizing the input from one eye over the input from the other eye in higher perception/cognition, even when binocular fusion has occurred. The data are strikingly similar across the two very different orthographies. Asynchronies, in which one eye begins the fixation earlier and/or ends it later, occur most frequently in the hemifield corresponding to that eye. We propose that such small asynchronies cue higher processing to prioritize the input from that eye, during and after binocular fusion.

Applying fuzzy-trace theory to attribute-framing bias: Gist and verbatim representations of quantitative information.

Attribute-framing bias reflects people's tendency to evaluate positively framed objects more favorably than the same objects framed negatively. Most theoretical accounts of this bias emphasized the role of positive- and negative-framing valence in the message, disregarding the quantitative information that typically accompanies it. To examine the role of both framing valence and detailed quantitative information in attribute-framing bias, we applied the distinction between gist and verbatim representations, as proposed by fuzzy-trace theory. We hypothesized that gist representations retain the framing valence used in the scenario, consequently eliciting biased positive or negative evaluations, whereas verbatim representations retain detailed quantitative information that allows for fine-tuning of the evaluations reflective of the magnitude of the target attribute. In 2 experiments, we compared precise presentations of different magnitudes using percentages and pie charts with vague presentations using verbal descriptions. A substantial attribute-framing bias was found for both the precise and vague presentation conditions, consistent with the hypothesis that the framing bias is driven by coarse and imprecise gist representation. Critically, however, the findings reveal higher correlations between evaluations and the magnitude of the target attribute in the precise presentation conditions (percentages and pie charts) compared with the vague verbal presentation. This finding suggests a process of fine-tuning of the evaluations when a detailed verbatim representation of the quantitative information is available. We discuss the findings in view of the distinction between gist and verbatim representations and propose future research to examine similar cognitive mechanisms accounting for biases in judgment and decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

"Alive" or "not dead": The contribution of descriptors to attribute-framing bias.

Attribute-framing bias (AFB) refers to bias in evaluating positively framed objects more favourably than the same objects framed negatively. In most AFB studies, framing is manipulated by contrasting the positive and negative outcomes, using the corresponding positive (success) or negative (failure) labels as descriptors. This study examined the unique contributions of the outcomes of the scenario and the labels describing these outcomes by manipulating them orthogonally. In three experiments, framing scenarios were presented to participants with either positive outcomes rendered with positive (65% passed) or negative (65% didn't fail) descriptors, or negative outcomes rendered with positive (35% didn't pass) or negative (35% failed) descriptors. All experiments revealed a strong effect for the outcome with a weaker effect for the descriptor valence, suggesting that outcomes have a stronger influence on AFB than do descriptors. We discuss the results within a theoretical framework that maps the outcome effects onto attention mechanisms and descriptor effects onto association-activation mechanisms.

Self-Disclosure Here and Now: Combining Retrospective Perceived Assessment With Dynamic Behavioral Measures.

Most previous research on self-disclosure (SD) focused on its perceived retrospective aspects using self-report questionnaires. Few studies investigated actual SD as reflected in interpersonal interaction. We propose a comprehensive approach that combines new objective and dynamic measures of SD that evaluate situated SD with the traditional measures that evaluate stable SD properties. As SD is essentially verbal, we build on linguistic parameters for assessing actual SD, including acoustic features such as intonation and fluency, and verbal features such as the particular choice of words. Critically, the new measures highlight SD here and now and may reveal transient situational factors that affect it, such as the dynamics of interpersonal interaction. Based on these measures, we propose a three-dimensional evaluation that can portray different profiles of SD and offer a better prediction of SD behavior in different situations. The theoretical and clinical implications of the proposed approach are discussed.

Differential vergence movements in reading Chinese and English: Greater fixation-initial binocular disparity is advantageous in reading the denser orthography.

We explore two aspects of exovergence: we test whether smaller binocular fixation disparities accompany the shorter saccades and longer fixations observed in reading Chinese; we test whether potentially advantageous psychophysical effects of exovergence (cf. Arnold & Schindel, 2010; Kersten & Murray, 2010) transfer to text reading. We report differential exovergence in reading Chinese and English: Chinese readers begin fixations with more binocular disparity, but end fixations with a disparity closely similar to that of the English readers. We conclude that greater fixation-initial binocular fixation disparity can be adaptive in the reading of visually and cognitively denser text.

The effect of construal level on unethical behavior.

Construal level theory predicts that people will judge immoral events more harshly when these are presented in a way that elicits a higher construal level, relative to a lower construal level. Previous research supported this prediction using an Israeli sample but not a U.S. SAMPLE: This article compared Israeli and U.S. samples with respect to the interactive effect of utility and construal level on unethical behavioral intentions. We found that construal level did not affect unethical behavioral intentions in either the U.S. samples for low-utility level or the Israeli samples for low- and high-utility levels. In contrast, construal level affected unethical behavioral intentions in the U.S. sample for high-utility level: unethical behavioral intentions were higher in the low-construal level compared to the high-construal level. We discuss these findings and suggest additional factors that challenge arguments concerning the direct effect of construal level on unethical behavior.

The moderating role of objective and subjective numeracy in attribute framing.

Previous research has found that objective numeracy moderates framing effects: People who are less numerate were found to be more susceptible to goal-framing and attribute-framing effects than people who are highly numerate. This study examined the possibility that subjective numeracy likewise moderates attribute framing in contexts where participants are presented with percentages of success or failure. The results show that compared with highly numerate participants, less numerate participants were more susceptible to the effect of attribute framing. Interestingly, this moderating effect was revealed only when using objective numeracy measures, and not when subjective numeracy measures were used. Future research is suggested to replicate these findings, to establish the generalizability of numeracy as a moderator of other cognitive biases, and to examine several possible theoretical explanations for the differential moderation of attribute-framing bias.

Tip-of-the-tongue in a second language: the effects of brief first-language exposure and long-term use.

Bilinguals have more tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) incidents than monolinguals. Whereas previous research has focused on differences in the long term language experience between these groups, the present study examined the hypothesis that both long-term and transient context factors modulate TOT rates. Russian-Hebrew bilinguals who acquired Hebrew either early (<5years) or late (>11years) were compared to native Hebrew speakers on a picture naming task in Hebrew, before and after viewing a short movie in Russian. Both the short-term context (before-after the movie) and long-term language experience modulated TOT rates: Late bilinguals exhibited significantly higher TOT rates than early bilinguals who did not significantly differ from native Hebrew speakers. Critically, following the Russian movie, bilinguals in both groups differed from the native speakers of the target language. Thus, exposure to the non-target language exerted a global, non-item-specific, cross-language interference effect. The findings highlight the dynamic nature of the bilingual system in which both short and long-term language experience operate to influence bilingual performance.

The missing link in the embodiment of syntax: prosody.

Neurolinguistic theories are challenged by the amodal abstract representations assumed by linguists. Embodied linguistics offers a conceptualization of the relationship between linguistic representation, experience, and the brain. Findings correlating brain activation patterns with referential features of words (e.g., body parts), suggest that the mechanism underlying linguistic embodiment is an "action-perception simulation". This mechanism accounts for embodied representation of words, but is harder to adapt to syntactic abstractions. We suggest that prosody is the missing link. Prosody is a sensory-motor phenomenon that can evoke an "action-perception simulation" that underpins the syntax-experience-brain association. Our review discusses different embodiment models and then integrates psycholinguistic and neurocognitive studies into a new approach to linguistic embodiment. We propose a novel implementation of the syntax-experience-brain relationship via the mapping between the temporo-spectral aspects of speech prosody and temporo-spectral patterns of synchronized behavior of neural populations. We discuss the potential implications for psycho- and neuro-linguistic research.

Binocular foveation in reading.

We present a theory of foveation in normal binocular reading. We consider the pervasive, nontrivial binocular fixation disparities (FDs) observed in reading and relate them to the computational problem of resolving retinal disparities in depth perception. We infer that the right eye's fixation being to the right of the left eye's in reading promotes binocular fusion in challenging conditions. We then show a different (nonfusional) processing advantage for the right eye's fixation being to the left of the left eye's in reading conditions in which binocular fusion is assured, by modeling the combined influence of foveal splitting, contralateral preference, ocular prevalence, and fixation disparity. This synthesis of anatomically grounded research in different aspects of visual processing produces a theory of foveation in reading that matches current data and makes testable predictions.

The GO model: a reconsideration of the role of structural units in guiding and organizing text on line.

Healy (1994) and Koriat and Greenberg (1994) offered different theoretical accounts of the missing-letter effect (MLE) in the letter-detection task, whereby a disproportionate number of letter-detection errors occur in frequent function words. Healy emphasized identification processes, whereas Koriat and Greenberg viewed the structural role of the embedding word to be crucial. Recent research suggests that neither position alone can account for the complete set of observations pertaining to the MLE. The present paper offers a theoretical integration of these competing explanations of letter detection in terms of a GO (guidance-organization) model of reading. This model specifies how structural processing of connected text helps guide eye movements to semantically informative parts of the text, enabling readers to achieve on-line fluency.

The extraction of structure during reading: evidence from reading prosody.

According to the structural approach to reading, the extraction of structure precedes the analysis of meaning and paves the way for it. In this study, reading prosody was used to examine this proposition. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that reading prosody produced on line reflects the early extraction of structure. In Experiment 1, readers were successful in assigning natural prosody to unfamiliar text immediately upon its reading. Experiment 2 showed that the prosodic patterns applied are tuned to the structure of the sentence and are largely indifferent to the content of the sentence or to its semantic coherence. The results join with other findings in speech production and comprehension in supporting the precedence of structure to meaning in reading.