Adaptive compensatory mechanism in the regulation of language switching performance under negative emotional states: An ERP study

Abstract This study examines how emotional states interact with bilingual language control across different switching contexts. Chinese–English bilinguals performed cued and voluntary switching tasks under neutral, negative and positive emotional states. Behaviorally, negative states did not affect performance. Event-related potentials (ERPs) results revealed that in voluntary switching, negative state increased cue-locked late positive component (LPC) on switch trials, indicating greater reactive control during the late stage of language schemas competition phase. In cued switching, negative state enhanced cue- and stimulus-locked N2 and reduced stimulus-locked LPC on L1 trials, reflecting enhanced proactive control during the early stage of language schemas competition and throughout the lexical selection phase. As proactive control is more cognitively demanding than reactive control, these findings suggest that the compensatory mechanism is more strongly activated in cued switching across both language control phases. Our findings extend the adaptive control hypothesis by showing how bilinguals flexibly adjust control in emotional contexts.