ACTIVATION OF NUMBER FACTS IN BILINGUALS

Two experiments examined the effect of the presentation format of numb ers-digits versus word format in the first and in the second languages of bilinguals-on mental arithmetic. Speed of number-fact retrieval an d the presence of interference produced by numbers that were either nu merically close to or associatively related to the correct answers of stored arithmetic problems (e.g., 2 + 5 and 7 x 8) were compared acros s formats. The verification of true problems was increasingly slower a nd less accurate from the digit condition to the second-language condi tion. Interference was produced by both types of incorrect answers in the digit and first-language conditions, whereas in the second-languag e condition, it was constrained to answers that were numerically close to correct answers. Together, the results suggest that the retrieval of arithmetic facts and the automatic spreading of activation within t he network of numerical facts are not only language-sensitive, but for mat-sensitive in general.