My primary research interests are in four related areas of human cognition:

1.      the functional organization of bilingual memory

2.      transfer processes in human memory

3.      representation of and access to words and concepts in long-term memory

4.      the impact of working in a less fluent language on memory performance

In the bilingual cognition laboratory, we have focused on the question of how bilinguals access their vocabulary in comprehension and production using simple tasks such as picture naming, translation, and semantic classification. The experiments have examined how the speed of access to vocabulary and associated concepts changes as a function of learning, including both experimental and pre-experimental experience, and the impact of a single learning episode over time.  The effects of identical and partial repetitions of these tasks on response time are used to derive the processes involved and to elucidate the mechanisms of learning involved in repetition priming. Other projects examine transfer of learning across languages and how the greater attentional demands and lower familiarity of a less fluent language impact explicit and implicit memory processes.

Francis, W. S., Corral, N. I., Jones, M. L., & Sáenz, S. P. (2008). Decomposition of repetition priming components in picture naming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137, 566-590.  View Article

Francis, W. S., & Sáenz, S. P. (2007). Repetition priming endurance in picture naming and translation: Contributions of component processes. Memory & Cognition, 35, 481-493.  View Article

Francis, W. S., & Gallard, S. L. K. (2005). Concept mediation in trilingual translation: Evidence from response times and repetition priming patterns. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 1082-1088. View Article

Francis, W. S., Augustini, B. K, & Sáenz, S. P. (2003). Repetition priming in picture naming and translation depends on shared processes and their difficulty: Evidence from Spanish-English bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 1283-1297.  View Article

Francis, W. S. (1999). Cognitive integration of language and memory in bilinguals: semantic representation. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 193-222.  View Article

Francis, W. S. (1999). Analogical transfer of problem solutions within and between languages in Spanish-English bilinguals. Journal of Memory and Language, 40, 301-329.  View Article