2026-10-07T08:27:42Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34072445 2026-10-05T17:36:43Z category_24 category_45 category_734 category_106 portal_5 item_type_3 month_year_10_2026

<p>Participant demographics.</p> Matias Fernandez-Duque (25316993) Viorica Marian (141404) Evolutionary Biology Sociology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Science Policy present study examined free flowing thought free association task associations participants generated language experience relates individual language experience english monolinguals completed language experience english bilinguals specific properties semantic memory semantic ambiguity initial concept individuals retrieve idiosyncratic features greater vocabulary forward flow findings suggest combine concepts associative thinking also influenced <div><p>Language shapes the organization of semantic memory and influences how individuals retrieve and combine concepts. The present study examined how language experience relates to associative thinking using Forward Flow, a metric that captures how far a thought sequence diverges semantically from an initial concept. Spanish-English bilinguals and English monolinguals completed a free association task in each of their respective languages. Greater vocabulary and language dominance predicted higher Forward Flow, indicating more semantically distant thought sequences. Among bilinguals, Forward Flow was higher in the dominant language than in the non-dominant language, suggesting that the conceptual associations bilinguals make depend on the language of retrieval. The associations participants generated were also influenced by idiosyncratic features of the languages they spoke, such as compounding, semantic ambiguity, and phonology. Our findings suggest that individual language experience and language-specific properties are linked to associative thinking, highlighting the role of language in the conceptual associations people make.</p></div> 2026-10-05T17:36:37Z Dataset Dataset 10.1371/journal.pone.0359889.t001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_p_Participant_demographics_p_/34072445 CC BY 4.0