DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.28014482.v2
title: ERP evidence for the facilitation of typical translation equivalents in bilingual processing - DATASET

description: Dataset name: ERP evidence for the facilitation of typical translation equivalents in bilingual processing - DATASETSTUDY PUBLISHED IN:Petit de Chemellier, J.-F., & Chan, S. (2025). ‘Don’t forget to close the light!’: ERP evidence for the facilitation of typical translation equivalents in bilingual processing. <i>Bilingualism: Language and Cognition</i>, 1–13. doi:10.1017/S1366728925000227<br>TASK INFORMATION:Task name: Chinese-English Verb Translation Verification TaskShort introduction of the experiment: The study investigated the facilitation of typical translation equivalents (relative to atypical translation equivalents) with the event-related brain potential (ERP) technique. Mandarin Chinese–English bilinguals were presented with a Chinese verb phrase (e.g., 開窗戶 kai chuanghu "open the window" or 開電腦 kai diannao "turn on the computer") followed by an English verb (e.g., "open" (a typical translation) or "turn on" (an atypical translation)) and were asked to judge whether the English verb was an appropriate translation of the verb in the Chinese verb phrase previously presented (e.g., 開 kai). Data collection took place at the Neurolinguistics Lab at National Taiwan Normal University. Twenty-six Taiwanese bilinguals (Chinese: L1; English: L2) were recruited for the experiment. The ERP data from two participants (IDs: b12-1, b13-1) were excluded due to low accuracy rates and/or excessive electroencephalography (EEG) artifacts (rejection rate above 50%). The information about the remaining twenty-four participants is in the "Participants & TICQ answers.xlsx" file.Participant task description: Participants were comfortably seated about 90 cm in front of a computer screen and were asked to put their hands on the keyboard in front of them. The experiment began with instructions given in English and a practice session to familiarize the participants with the procedure. The stimuli were displayed in the following order in each trial: A fixation point (a cross sign) was first presented in the middle of the screen for 1000 ms, followed by a 200 ms blank screen. Next, a Chinese verb phrase consisting of a verb and an object (e.g., 開電腦 kai diannao) was presented as the prime for 1000 ms, followed by a 300 ms blank screen. Then, an English verb (e.g., "turn on") was presented as the target for 1000 ms, followed by a 200 ms blank screen. Finally, a question mark was presented, prompting the participants to judge with a button press whether the previously presented English verb was an appropriate translation of the Chinese verb in the verb phrase. After the participants made their self-paced response, a blank screen was displayed for 200 ms before the next trial began. Each participant was presented with 128 Chinese verb phrases (primes) and English verbs (targets).Participant instructions: The participants used their dominant/right hand to respond on the keyboard, with the index finger indicating a translation as "appropriate" (by pressing button "1") and the ring finger as "inappropriate" (by pressing button "3").Authors: Jean-François Petit de Chemellier & Shiao-hui ChanInstitution: National Taiwan Normal UniversityNeurolinguistics Lab Website: https://sites.google.com/view/neurolinguisticslabntnu/homeDepartment: Department of EnglishInstitution location: 162, Section 1, Heping E. Rd., Taipei City 106, Taiwan<br>EEG ACQUISITION INFORMATION:Cap manufacturer: Compumedics NeuroScanCap model: Quik-Cap 37 channels-Ag/AgCl Sintered electrodesEEG reference location: Online average of left and right mastoid electrodesEEG ground electrode location: AFz (anterior frontal midline)EEG montage system: 10/20 systemEEG amplifier maker: Compumedics NeuroScanEEG amplifier model: NuAmps 7181EEG amplifier serial number: 71810585EEG acquisition software version: NeuroScan Acquire Version 4.5.1Sampling rate: 1000 HzHardware filters: Low-Pass filter at 50 HzSoftware filters: High-pass filter on EEG data at 0.1 Hz and Low-pass filter on ERP data at 30 HzLine frequency: 60 Hz<br><br>CONDITIONS:EEG event codes information:8: "appropriate translation" response9: "inappropriate translation" response11: Chinese verb phrase primes followed by TC targets (Chinese verb phrases with typical senses; e.g., 開窗戶 kai chuanghu "open the window")12: Chinese verb phrase primes followed by AI targets (Chinese verb phrases with typical senses; e.g., 開窗戶 kai chuanghu "open the window")13: Chinese verb phrase primes followed by AC targets (Chinese verb phrases with atypical senses; e.g., 開電腦 kai diannao "turn on the computer")14: Chinese verb phrase primes followed by TI targets (Chinese verb phrases with atypical senses; e.g., 開電腦 kai diannao "turn on the computer")21: TC targets (English translations TYPICAL and CONGRUENT with the sense of the Chinese verb in the phrasal context; e.g., 開窗戶 kai chuanghu "open the window" followed by "open")22: AI targets (English translations ATYPICAL and INCONGRUENT with the sense of the Chinese verb in the phrasal context; e.g., 開窗戶 kai chuanghu "open the window" followed by "turn on")23: AC targets (English translations ATYPICAL and CONGRUENT with the sense of the Chinese verb in the phrasal context; e.g., 開電腦 kai diannao "turn on the computer" followed by "turn on")24: TI targets (English translations TYPICAL but INCONGRUENT with the sense of the Chinese verb in the phrasal context; e.g., 開電腦 kai diannao "turn on the computer" followed by "open")<br>Note: The target conditions have different labels within the E-Prime files (see "E-Prime files and behavioral raw results" folder):TT: Chinese verb with TYPICAL sense, then TYPICAL translation equivalent (= TC)TA: Chinese verb with TYPICAL sense, then ATYPICAL translation equivalent (= AI)AA: Chinese verb with ATYPICAL sense, then ATYPICAL translation equivalent (= AC)AT: Chinese verb with ATYPICAL sense, then TYPICAL translation equivalent (= TI)<br>Bins within the ERP sets (created with BinLister during EEG preprocessing):bin1 includes epochs triggered by event 21 followed by event 8 (labeled "TC targets with correct response")bin2 includes epochs triggered by event 22 followed by event 9 (labeled "AI targets with correct response")bin3 includes epochs triggered by event 23 followed by event 8 (labeled "AC targets with correct response")bin4 includes epochs triggered by event 24 followed by event 9 (labeled "TI targets with correct response")bin5 includes epochs triggered by event 21 (labeled "TC targets")bin6 includes epochs triggered by event 22 (labeled "AI targets")bin7 includes epochs triggered by event 23 (labeled "AC targets")bin8 includes epochs triggered by event 24 (labeled "TI targets")bin9 includes epochs triggered by events 11 and 12 (labeled "T primes" because the Chinese verb phrases followed by TC or AI targets are Chinese verb phrases with typical senses; e.g., 開窗戶 kai chuanghu "open the window")bin10 includes epochs triggered by events 13 and 14 (labeled "A primes" because the Chinese verb phrases followed by AC or TI targets are Chinese verb phrases with atypical senses; e.g., 開電腦 kai diannao "turn on the computer")<br><br>CONTENT OF THE DATASET:E-Prime files and raw behavioral data (in .es3 and .edat3 formats respectively)MATLAB scripts (preprocessing pipelines included)Preprocessed ERP sets (in .erp format)R Behavioral data, scripts, and statistical resultsR ERP data, scripts, and statistical resultsRaw EEG files (in .cnt format)Material statistics.xlsx fileParticipants & TICQ answers.xlsx fileREADME.txt<br>SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR USING THE FILES: E-Prime 3.0, MatLab, R, and Microsoft Excel.<br>FINAL REMARK:If you wish to replicate our findings from the preprocessing of our EEG data, we recommend following our pipeline using the ERPLAB Toolbox (on MATLAB/EEGLAB). You can find the "EEG preprocessing pipeline.txt" file in the "MATLAB scripts" folder. One participant (ID: b2-1) exhibited excessive blinking artifacts before the onset of the response event code, which required manual removal. For this participant, we strongly recommend using the "Special EEG preprocessing pipeline for participant b2-1.txt", also located in the 'MATLAB scripts' folder. We hope our data and detailed instructions will help you replicate our findings or conduct similar analyses. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please contact us at: xuefalan@gmail.com