Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Hemispheric Specialization For Emotion Within First And Second Languages : Emotion Word Processing In Monolingual And Bilingual Speakers, Jennifer Mary Martin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Emotion representation in monolingual speakers is complex, and for bilinguals the relationship between emotion and language can be even more intriguing. The present study examined reactions to words of six types, including positive, negative, and neutral words varying in concreteness. Words and nonwords were intermixed in a lexical decision task using hemifield presentation. In Experiment 1, participants were English monolinguals and all stimuli were presented in English. In Experiment 2, participants were Spanish-English bilinguals who were presented with both English and Spanish stimuli. Results revealed a general left hemisphere advantage. Overall, reaction times for positive words were faster than for …