Visual Recognition Memory Modulated by Language and Cultural Frame Priming in Latinx Bilinguals and Biculturals

• Published in: Journal of latinx psychology 2023-08, Vol.11 (3), p.220-239
• Main Authors: Carbajal, Ivan, Ryals, Anthony J., Wang, Chiachih D. C., Slavish, Danica, Hasapes, Nicholas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bilingualism; Cognitive Science; Female; Human; Latinos/Latinas; Male; Multiculturalism; Priming; Recognition (Learning); Visual Memory; Visual Perception
• ISSN: 2578-8086; 2578-8094
• DOI: 10.1037/lat0000229

Past research has provided evidence for cultural differences in cognitive processing such as those involved in episodic memory when comparing European American and East Asian samples. However, cultural cognitive science has become overdependent on these comparison samples, and little research exists outside of this dichotomy. In this study, we investigated visual recognition memory performance in bicultural and bilingual Latinx individuals when given images to encode in two different languages and semantic scene congruency (i.e., same or different image) conditions. We found that language can prime bicultural Latinx to perform differently in a scene-based visual recognition memory task combining objects with backgrounds, where images encoded in Spanish were more likely to be identified as incorrect and images encoded in English were more likely to be identified as correct. Additionally, we found that Cultural Blendedness directly predicted recognition accuracy, where higher Blendedness led to more incorrect answers, and lower Blendedness led to more correct answers. Importantly, we provide further evidence that language, cognition, and perception are linked and influenced by one another. Additionally, we demonstrate that language can prime perceptual and memory processing in unique ways, and that it is critical to study Latinx individuals in culturally appropriate and informed ways moving forward. Investigaciones anteriores han aportado pruebas de la existencia de diferencias culturales en el procesamiento cognitivo, como las implicadas en la memoria episódica, al comparar muestras euroestadounidenses y asiáticas orientales. Sin embargo, la ciencia cognitiva cultural se ha vuelto excesivamente dependiente de estas muestras comparativas y existen pocas investigaciones fuera de esta dicotomía. En este estudio investigamos el desempeño de la memoria de reconocimiento visual en personas latinas biculturales y bilingües cuando se les presentaban imágenes para codificar en dos idiomas diferentes y condiciones de congruencia semántica de la escena (es decir, imagen igual o diferente). Encontramos que el idioma puede preparar a las personas latinas biculturales para desempeñarse de forma diferente en una tarea de memoria de reconocimiento visual basada en escenas que combinan objetos con fondos, en la que las imágenes codificadas en español tenían más probabilidades de ser identificadas como incorrectas y las imágenes codificadas en inglés tenían más probabilidade