The effect of episodic specificity inductions on cognitive tasks involving episodic retrieval: A quantitative review.

A growing body of research suggests that an episodic specificity induction (ESI), that is, training in recalled details of a (recent) past event, impacts performance on subsequent tasks that require episodic retrieval processes. The constructive episodic simulation hypothesis (Schacter and Addis, 2007) posits that various tasks which require, at least partially, episodic retrieval processes rely on a single, flexible episodic memory system. As such, a specificity induction activates that episodic memory system and improves subsequent performance on tasks that require use of that memory system. The present quantitative review analyzed the literature demonstrating that the Episodic Specificity Induction (ESI) improves performance on subsequence cognitive tasks that require (at least partial) episodic retrieval processes. Twenty-three studies met criteria for measuring the impact of ESI, compared to a non-specificity control induction(s), on subsequent tasks requiring edpisodic retrieval, including memory, imagination, problem solving, divergent thinking. The results of this review demonstrate a strong, positive effect of ESI on episodic memory, imagination, divergent thinking, and problem-solving tasks.

Explaining Individual Differences in Trajectories of Simultaneous Bilingual Development: Contributions of Child and Environmental Factors.

Effects of child and environmental factors in moderating the course of bilingual development were investigated using longitudinal data, from age 2.5 to 5 years, on 126 U.S.-born children with early exposure to Spanish and English. Multilevel models of Spanish and English expressive vocabulary identified children's phonological memory ability as a significant predictor of both outcomes, while also replicating the effect of the relative amount of language exposure. In addition, nonverbal IQ was a significant predictor of English vocabulary; birth order and maternal education in Spanish were significant predictors of Spanish vocabulary. These findings expand our understanding of the sources of the wide heterogeneity in bilingual development and of the requirements that language acquisition makes of learners and their environments.

Cognate effects on anaphor processing.

There are numerous studies demonstrating facilitated processing of cognates relative to noncognates for bilinguals, providing evidence that bilingual lexical access is language nonselective. We tested whether cross-language activation affects comprehension of larger units of meaning, focusing specifically on comprehension of anaphoric references. Highly proficient, Spanish-English bilinguals read sentences either in English (Experiment 1) or Spanish (Experiment 2) while their eye movements were recorded. Sentences consisted of an initial clause with 2 nouns that were either cognates or noncognates, and a later clause with an anaphor that either referred to the first or second noun. In the English experiment, cognate status facilitated selection of the sentence's foundational noun, reflected by shorter reading times for cognate nouns in the first position. Processing of pronouns was facilitated when they referred to cognates, reflected by higher skipping rates and shorter reading times. Final selection of cognate referents was also facilitated, reflected by total reading shorter total reading times, but only when the pronoun referred to the first noun. In the Spanish experiment, total reading times for cognate nouns were shorter, irrespective of their order of mention, reflecting a general cognate facilitation effect that was not affected by which noun was selected as the foundational structure. Spillover fixations from anaphors referring to cognates were shorter than noncognates, but only when they were the second-mentioned noun, suggesting that cognate status affected coreferencing for the more recently encountered noun. Implications for theories of cross-language activation and anaphoric reference are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Development of English and Spanish Among Children in Immigrant Families in the United States.

The variable language skills of children from immigrant families create challenges for families, teachers, and policy makers. A first step toward meeting those challenges is to understand the factors that influence language development in children who hear a language other than the country's majority language at home. We present findings from analyses of longitudinal data on children in immigrant families in the United States that contribute to that understanding. Our findings support four broad conclusions: (1) Children who are exposed to two languages simultaneously will lag behind monolingual children in their rates of single language growth. This is the normal result of distributed language exposure. (2) Language exposure provided by native speakers is more supportive of language growth than exposure provided by nonnative speakers. Therefore, immigrant parents should be encouraged to interact with their children in the language that allows the richest, most meaningful conversations, not necessarily in the majority language. (3) Preschool attendance does not always provide support for majority language skill. Attention needs to be paid to the quality of language support provided in preschool classrooms if they are to benefit language growth. (4) Acquiring the heritage language does not interfere with acquiring the majority language. Rather, it is heritage language acquisition that is vulnerable.

Las habilidades variables del lenguaje en niños de familias inmigrantes crean desafíos para las familias, profesores y actores políticos. Un primer paso para acercarse a estos desafíos, es entender los factores que influencian el desarrollo de lenguaje en niños que escuchan un lenguaje distinto al del país de residencia en sus hogares. En este artículo presentamos hallazgos de análisis longitudinales sobre datos de niños de familias inmigrantes en los Estados Unidos que contribuye al entendimiento de estos desafíos. Nuestros hallazgos muestran cuatro grandes conclusiones: (1) Los niños que están expuestos a dos lenguajes simultáneamente presentan un desfase con respecto a los niños monolingües respecto a los índices de crecimiento de uno de los idiomas. Este es el resultado normal de una exposición al lenguaje de manera distribuida. (2) La exposición al lenguaje proporcionada por los hablantes nativos es de mayor apoyo al desarrollo del lenguaje que la exposición proporcionada por hablantes no-nativos. Es por eso, que los padres inmigrantes deben ser alentados a interactuar con sus hijos en el lenguaje que permita intercambios significativos y abundantes en conversaciones, no necesariamente en el idioma de la mayoría. (3) La asistencia a cursos preescolares no siempre ofrece apoyo hacia las habilidades del lenguaje. Se necesita prestar atención a la calidad del apoyo del lenguaje que se proporciona en las aulas del preescolar si estas presentan beneficios al desarrollo del lenguaje. (4) Adquirir el idioma heredado no interfiere con la adquisición del idioma mayoritario, más bien, la adquisición del idioma heredado es el que se encuentra vulnerable.