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Emotion Word Processing: Effects of Word Type and Valence in Spanish–English Bilinguals

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Abstract

Previous studies comparing emotion and emotion-laden word processing have used various cognitive tasks, including an Affective Simon Task (Altarriba and Basnight-Brown in Int J Billing 15(3):310–328, 2011), lexical decision task (LDT; Kazanas and Altarriba in Am J Psychol, in press), and rapid serial visual processing (Knickerbocker and Altarriba in Vis Cogn 21(5):599–627, 2013). Each of these studies has found significant differences in emotion and emotion-laden word processing. The current study investigated this word type distinction using a bilingual sample, to assess emotion and emotion-laden word processing in a bilingual’s two languages. Sixty Spanish–English bilinguals performed a masked LDT with positive and negative emotion and emotion-laden word pairs, in either Spanish or English. Overall, the four-way interaction of relatedness, word type, valence, and language was significant. Response times (RTs) to emotion words were significantly faster than RTs to emotion-laden words, but only in English. These results indicate that the emotion/emotion-laden word type distinction may be the most robust in a person’s dominant language.

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Chantae Miller, Nicole Salierno, and Diana Wilkonski for their assistance with data collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY), 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Stephanie A. Kazanas & Jeanette Altarriba

Authors
  1. Stephanie A. Kazanas
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  2. Jeanette Altarriba
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie A. Kazanas.

Additional information

Portions of these data were presented at the \(54\mathrm{th}\) annual meeting of the New England Psychological Association, Bates College, Lewiston, ME.

Appendix

Appendix

Related Primes

Unrelated Primes

Targets

English

Spanish

English

Spanish

English

Spanish

cheer

aclamar

bliss

dicha

happy

feliz

delight

gusto

freedom

libertad

joy

júbilo

excitement

estímulo

devoted

entregado

thrill

emoción

safe

seguro

enjoyment

disfrute

secure

fijo

kindness

bondad

fun

diversión

nice

gracioso

pride

propio

hopeful

aspirante

loyal

fiel

anger

ira

abuse

maltrato

rage

rabia

anxious

ansioso

jealousy

envidia

tense

tieso

betray

delatar

arrogant

altanero

hurt

dolido

afraid

miedoso

guilt

culpa

scared

susto

angry

enojado

resent

rencor

mad

furioso

selfish

egoísta

nervous

inquieto

greed

gula

gift

regalo

vacation

veranear

birthday

cumpleaños

kitten

gatito

lottery

sorteo

puppy

perrito

cozy

acogedor

reward

ganar

snuggle

mimar

treat

obsequio

father

padre

candy

dulces

kiss

beso

circus

espectáculo

hug

abrazo

baby

nene

lamb

cordero

doll

muñeca

venom

malicia

deceit

engaño

poison

veneno

coffin

ataúd

traitor

espía

burial

túmulo

hell

infierno

ache

doler

devil

diablo

accident

accidente

nightmare

pesadilla

injury

herida

headache

jaqueca

knife

cuchillo

sickness

mareo

thief

ladrón

divorce

desunir

robber

bandido

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Kazanas, S.A., Altarriba, J. Emotion Word Processing: Effects of Word Type and Valence in Spanish–English Bilinguals. J Psycholinguist Res 45, 395–406 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-015-9357-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-015-9357-3

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