Typically, bilinguals learn multiplication facts in only one instruction language. Consequently, these facts may be represented and/or accessed as language-specific memories, requiring a qualitatively different retrieval process in their other language. Indeed, behavioral studies reveal that bilinguals verify arithmetic facts faster and better in the language of learning. Here, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used as a window into the neurocognitive processes underlying this language bias in children. ERPs were recorded while bilingual children verified the correctness of multiplication solutions. Operands were presented as spoken number words in Spanish and English, separately. Although a language bias was revealed in behavior, both languages elicited the same ERP correctness effect, an N400, reflecting similar cognitive processes in both languages. This suggests that the source of the behavioral difference is not at the level of semantic access. Our findings highlight the flexibility of the bilingual brain, especially when both languages are learned early.

中文翻译：

---

双语儿童从不同语言的语义记忆中获取乘法事实：来自 N400 的证据

通常，双语者只用一种指令语言学习乘法事实。因此，这些事实可能被表示和/或访问为特定于语言的记忆，需要在其他语言中进行性质不同的检索过程。事实上，行为研究表明，双语者在学习语言中更快更好地验证算术事实。在这里，事件相关电位 (ERP) 被用作了解儿童这种语言偏见背后的神经认知过程的窗口。当双语儿童验证乘法解的正确性时，记录 ERP。操作数分别表示为西班牙语和英语中的口语数字词。尽管在行为中显示出语言偏见，但两种语言都引发了相同的 ERP 正确性效应，N400，反映了两种语言中相似的认知过程。这表明行为差异的根源不在语义访问级别。我们的研究结果强调了双语大脑的灵活性，尤其是在早期学习两种语言时。