Graded Category Structure in Chinese-English Bilinguals

Graded Category Structure in Chinese-English Bilinguals

This study examined the extent to which Chinese-English bilinguals’ representations of common categories are similar or different in each of their languages. More specifically, it examined variations in a particular aspect of graded structure: the extent to which exemplars are differentially accessible from corresponding category labels in two languages. Archival category listing data were used to compare bilingual participants who responded in Chinese versus English to different groups of monolinguals who responded only in English. There was substantial overlap in the category exemplars listed across the bilinguals’ languages, but less overlap than for monolingual responses in the same language. The results indicate differences in graded structure of the categories across bilingual participants’ languages. Implications for cognitive processing in general and creative idea generation in particular are discussed.