2017年12月6日下午，英国诺丁汉大学Walter van Heuven副教授作了有关“词汇识别及双语脑”的报告。
他首先指出，通达及存储问题是双语词汇识别中的两大基本问题，即，双语者是否有选择地激活他们的词汇表征以及两种语言的心理词库是否彼此独立。共有四大理论可能性：1）语言选择性通达、独立词库；2）选择性通达、统一词库；3）语言非选择性通达、独立词库；4）非选择性通达、统一词库。语言间词汇的相似性能够提供很好的研究视角。具体来说，van Heuven教授主要进行了语言间正字法相临词及同形异义词的研究。前者的研究中发现了目标词的识别受到两种语言中相临词的共同影响，因而他认为两种语言的词汇是平行激活的，并且存储于统一的词库。这一相临词效应得到了ERP研究及自然阅读实验的进一步证实。采用语言间同形异义词（不同及相似字母系统）的脑成像研究也得到了类似的结论。特定脑区显示出基于词汇及基于反应的语言冲突，反应了两种语言的同时激活。总的来说，双语词汇识别的心理学实验支持非选择性通达、统一词库的观点。
在演讲的后半部分，他介绍了双语词汇识别研究中的另一种范式——计算机模型构建。单语正字法加工的主要模型为具有局部联结主义网络特征的交互激活（IA）模型。van Heuven教授与Dijkstra将IA模型扩展到了双语研究中，构建了双语交互激活（BIA）模型。BIA模型的主要特征为统一词库中的非选择性通达、不同语言层面的语言节点以及自上而下的抑制。他还编写了jIAM，一个网上的IA模型及BIA模型的程序应用。BIA模型随后进一步被发展成BIA+模型，其假设与实验研究得到的结论基本相符。最后，van Heuven教授介绍了包括SOPHIA（语义、字形、音韵交互）模型在内的BIA+模型的具体模拟应用。
Prof. Walter van Heuven from Universityof Nottingham reported on “Word Recognition and the Bilingual Brain” on the afternoon of Dec. 6th, 2017.
He started off with the access and storage questions of bilingual word recognition, viz., whether bilinguals accessed their word representations in a selective or nonselective manner and if they had independent lexicons or an integrated lexicon. In terms of these two fundamental questions, there were four theoretical possibilities: 1)language-selective access, independent lexicons; 2) selective access,integrated lexicon; 3) language non-selective access, independent lexicon; 4)nonselective access, integrated lexicon. The similarity between words indifferent languages could provide with researchers a window into these two issues. Specifically, Prof. van Heuven used orthographic neighbours and interlingual homographs in his studies. With the former category, he found that target word recognition was affected by neighbours from both languages and therefore arrived at the conclusion that words were activated in parallel from an integrated lexicon. This neighbourhood effect was corroborated in event-related potentials studies and natural reading experiments. Similar patterns emerged in brain imaging studies using interlingual homographs with similar or different scripts. The simultaneous activation of two languages revealed itself in certain brain areas showing stimulus-based and response-based language conflict. To sum up, psychological experiments in bilingual word recognition mostly pointed to a nonselective access pattern with an integrated lexicon.
In the second half of the lecture, he introduced computational models as another line of research probing into bilingual word recognition. For monolingual model of orthographic processing, there was a localist connectionist network model called Interactive Activation (IA) model. Prof. van Heuven, together with Dijkstra, extended the IA model to the bilingual situation and constructed the Bilingual InteractiveActivation (BIA) model, characterized by an integrated lexicon with parallel access, language nodes at different levels and top-down inhibition. He also developed an online application of the IA and BIA models called jIAM. The recent modification of the BIA model was the BIA + model, which consisted of the word identification system and task/decision system. The basic assumptions of BIA + model echoed the conclusions drawn from experimental studies. Prof.van Heuven concluded with the introductions to SOPHIA (semantic orthographic phonological interactive activation) and other computational simulations as the implementation of the BIA+ model.
