Smith, Courtney J.
(2007)
Faster Isn't Necessarily Better: The Role of Individual Differences on Processing Words with Multiple Translations.
Undergraduate Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Words that can translate several ways into another language have only recently been examined in studies of bilingualism. The present study examined how individual differences in working memory span and interference affect the processing of such words during a translation task. 20 English-Spanish bilinguals performed a Stroop task and an operation word span task to determine their interference abilities and working memory spans, respectively. They then translated from English to Spanish and Spanish to English 239 words that varied in number of translations and concreteness. Bilinguals with lower interference and lower working memory spans were predicted to have the fastest response times for words with multiple translations, due to the ability to better suppress irrelevant information as well as limited capacity to hold several competing translations of a word in memory at once. Individuals with higher interference and higher working memory spans were predicted to be able to access and hold in memory all possible meanings of the word at once, yielding slower response times. The results demonstrated that interference and working memory span did predict response times in the translation task in accordance with the hypotheses, and can have significant impact on several aspects of translation.
Share
Citation/Export: |
|
Social Networking: |
|
Details
Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
Status: |
Unpublished |
Creators/Authors: |
|
ETD Committee: |
|
Date: |
16 July 2007 |
Date Type: |
Completion |
Defense Date: |
13 April 2007 |
Approval Date: |
16 July 2007 |
Submission Date: |
27 April 2007 |
Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology David C. Frederick Honors College |
Degree: |
BPhil - Bachelor of Philosophy |
Thesis Type: |
Undergraduate Thesis |
Refereed: |
Yes |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
concreteness; L2 proficiency; language ambiguity; multilinguism |
Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04272007-112918/, etd-04272007-112918 |
Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 19:42 |
Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:42 |
URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/7693 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |