The representation of emotion vs. emotion-laden words in English and Spanish in the Affective Simon Task

Jeanette Altarriba ^[1] ; Dana M. Basnight-Brown ^[1]
1. [1] State University of New York
  
  State University of New York
  
  City of Albany, Estados Unidos
Localización: International Journal of Bilingualism: interdisciplinary studies of multilingual behaviour, ISSN 1367-0069, Vol. 15, Nº. 3, 2011, págs. 310-328
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- An Affective Simon Task was administered to English-speaking monolinguals and Spanish—English bilinguals, in order to assess the extent to which valence and emotionality are automatically processed when reading a word. Participants classified words in white on the basis of valence (positive or negative), or classified them on the basis of color (blue or green) via a key press. Words were either emotion words (e.g., happy; anxious) or emotion-laden words (e.g., dream; shark). Bilinguals viewed words in both English and Spanish. While only negative emotion words produced the typical congruency effects, both negative and positive emotion-laden words produced significant Simon effects, in monolinguals. Similar effects emerged for bilinguals, in both languages. Results indicate that emotion word type moderates the Affective Simon Task and also provide a demonstration of these effects in bilinguals. Overall, the data also provide further evidence that affective coding in both a dominant and a subordinate language can influence subsequent responses in seemingly irrelevant tasks. Results are discussed within a framework focused on the representation of emotion in both monolingual and bilingual speakers.