Impact of Language Switching on Memory Encoding

Task switching can hurt how memory is encoded on a switch versus a repetition trial, suggesting that increased control demands influence how attention is allocated. At this point, it is unclear whether language switching can impact memory selectivity in similar ways. In Experiment 1, unbalanced German-English bilinguals first completed a language switching task where pictures had to be named in their L1 or L2. They then indicated whether a picture had been presented before or not. Here, we did not find any evidence that language switching hurts memory encoding. In Experiment 2, participants will again complete a language switching task and picture recognition task. In contrast to Experiment 1, pictures in the language switching task will need to be categorized and not named. We predict that pictures will be less likely to be recognized if they had been presented on a switch rather than a repetition trial during encoding. unknown other