Is Language a Unique Form of Symbol? A Perspective from Bilingual Language Control

doi:10.12139/j.1672-0628.2024.06.002

Studies of Psychology and Behavior ›› 2024, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (6): 730-736.DOI: 10.12139/j.1672-0628.2024.06.002

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Is Language a Unique Form of Symbol? A Perspective from Bilingual Language Control

Junjie WU¹, Xinye WU*^,¹^,²(), Qianming LIU¹, Yannan JI¹^,³, Qiping WANG*^,¹^,⁴()

1. Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Student Mental Health and Intelligence Assessment, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387
2. Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121
3. Clinical College, Chengde Medical University, Chengde 067000
4. School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875

Received:2024-05-31 Online:2024-11-20 Published:2024-11-20
Contact: Xinye WU, Qiping WANG

语言是一种特殊的符号吗？来自双语控制的视角

吴俊杰¹, 伍新野*^,¹^,²(), 刘倩铭¹, 计艳楠¹^,³, 王启萍*^,¹^,⁴()

1. 教育部人文社会科学重点研究基地天津师范大学心理与行为研究院，天津师范大学心理学部，天津市学生心理健康与智能评估重点实验室，天津 300387
2. 杭州师范大学附属医院认知与脑疾病研究中心，杭州 311121
3. 承德医学院临床学院，承德 067000
4. 北京师范大学国际中文教育学院，北京 100875

通讯作者: 伍新野, 王启萍
基金资助:
国家自然科学基金(32100854)；国家留学基金(202308120071)。

Abstract

Abstract:

The relationship between language and symbols has long been studied, but mainly from philosophical reasoning or basic cognitive processes, lacking empirical investigation into higher cognitive control. This study used a bilingual switching paradigm to isolate higher cognitive control, employing multidimensional metrics and a cosine distance algorithm to quantify the similarity of participants’ behavioral patterns across Chinese-symbol, English-symbol, and Chinese-English switching tasks. Results showed no significant difference in the cosine distances of participants’ behavioral patterns between any pair of switching tasks, with equivalence confirming their similarity. These findings suggest that the cognitive control demands required for switching between Chinese, English, and symbols are the same, indicating that language is not substantively distinct from symbols at this level, providing new insights and empirical evidence for the cognitive characteristics of language.

Key words: bilingual language control, language switching, symbol, language

摘要：

语言与符号的关系一直是学界关注的议题。以往研究多基于哲学思辨，或局限于初级认知加工层面的实证探索，而缺乏对高级认知控制层面的深入考察。本研究借用双语切换范式分离出高级认知控制过程，结合多维指标和余弦距离算法，量化被试在中文−符号、英文−符号和中文−英文切换任务下行为模式的相似性。结果显示，被试在任意两种切换任务下的行为模式无显著差异，等值性检验进一步支持三种任务间的行为模式具有一致性。这表明中文、英文和符号两两之间的切换所需的认知控制是相同的，意味着在高级认知控制层面，语言相较于符号无实质性的特殊之处。本研究为揭示语言的认知特性提供了新的视角与实证依据。

关键词: 双语控制, 语言切换, 符号, 语言

Junjie WU, Xinye WU, Qianming LIU, Yannan JI, Qiping WANG. Is Language a Unique Form of Symbol? A Perspective from Bilingual Language Control[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2024, 22(6): 730-736.

吴俊杰, 伍新野, 刘倩铭, 计艳楠, 王启萍. 语言是一种特殊的符号吗？来自双语控制的视角[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2024, 22(6): 730-736.

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Is Language a Unique Form of Symbol? A Perspective from Bilingual Language Control

语言是一种特殊的符号吗？来自双语控制的视角

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