Moses or Noah? A case of ‘potato-potahto’ when using a foreign language

Abstract Research among bilinguals suggests a foreign language effect for various tasks requiring more systematic processing style. For instance, seem less prone to heuristic reasoning when solving problem statements in their (FL) as opposed native (NL) language. The present study aimed determine whether such an might also be observed the detection of semantic anomalies. Participants were presented NL and FL questions with without anomalies while eye movements recorded. Overall, they failed detect anomaly than half trials. Furthermore, illusions occurred FL, indicating disadvantage. Additionally, movement analyses suggested that reading patterns are predominantly similar across languages. Our results therefore substantiate theories suggesting use induces cognitive load, causing increased susceptibility due partial processing.