负性情绪干扰下熟练汉英双语者的空间工作记忆优势

Spatial working memory advantage of proficient Chinese-English bilinguals under interference of negative emotion

目的探究在负性情绪干扰下,熟练汉英双语者在空间工作记忆任务中是否会呈现认知优势。方法采用2(被试类型:熟练汉英双语者和非熟练汉英双语者)×2(干扰刺激效价:中性情绪和负性情绪)混合实验设计,记录被试在空间工作记忆2-back任务中经中性和负性情绪干扰刺激条件下的反应时和准确率,并进行重复测量方差分析和简单效应分析。结果被试在负性情绪干扰刺激条件下的反应时更长、准确率更低。在中性干扰刺激条件下,熟练汉英双语者的准确率与非熟练汉英双语者的准确率差异边缘显著;在负性情绪干扰刺激条件下,熟练汉英双语者的准确率显著高于非熟练汉英双语者。结论负性情绪损害了被试在空间工作记忆任务中的表现;在负性情绪刺激干扰下,熟练汉英双语者表现出空间工作记忆方面的认知优势。

Objective To explore whether proficient Chinese-English bilinguals possessed cognitive advantages in spatial working memory tasks under the interference of negative emotion. Methods A mixed experimental design of 2(participants type: proficient Chinese-English bilinguals vs. non-proficient Chinese-English bilinguals) ×2(valence of distractors: neutral emotion vs. negative emotion) was conducted. The reaction time and accuracy of the participants in the 2-back task of spatial working memory were recorded under the interference of neutral and negative emotional stimuli, and repeated measures ANOVA and simple effect analysis were applied. Results The participants’ reaction time was longer and the accuracy was lower under the interference of negative emotional stimuli. In the condition of neutral stimuli, the difference of accuracy between proficient Chinese-English bilinguals and non-proficient Chinese-English bilinguals was marginal. The accuracy of the proficient Chinese-English bilinguals was significantly higher than that of the non-proficient Chinese-English bilinguals under the interference of negative emotional stimuli. Conclusion Negative emotions impaire participants’ performance in spatial working memory tasks. Proficient Chinese-English bilinguals present cognitive advantages in spatial working memory under the interference of negative emotional stimuli.