Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, Conference Proceedings and Book Chapters

Preprints

  1. Zhang, Y., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). Perspective alignment in dialogue: The role of interlocutor's linguistic competence and communicative goals. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/jx468_v1
  2. Wu, H., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). Distinct social-linguistic processing between humans and large audio-language models: Evidence from model-brain alignment. arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.19586
  3. Wu, H., Rao, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). Probabilistic adaptation of language comprehension for individual speakers: Evidence from neural oscillations. arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.01299
  4. Tang, X., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Are LLMs good literature review writers? Evaluating the literature review writing ability of large language models. arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.13612
  5. Wu, H., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Speaker effects in spoken language comprehension. arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.07238
  6. Wu, H., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). When a man says he is pregnant: ERP evidence for a rational account of speaker-contextualized language comprehensionn. arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.17525
  7. Duan, X., Xiao, B., Tang, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). HLB: Benchmarking LLMs' humanlikeness in language use. arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.15890
  8. Rao, X., Wu, H. & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Comprehending semantic and syntactic anomalies in LLM-versus human-generated texts: An ERP study. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kvbg2
  9. Qiu, Z., Duan, X. & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Qiu, Z., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2023, May 12). Pragmatic Implicature Processing in ChatGPT. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/qtbh9

In Press

  1. Xu, Z., Zhang, Y., & Cai, Z. G. (in press). Phonetic and semantic radical priming in Chinese character amnesia. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition .
  2. Cai, Z. G., Dunn, M. S., & Branigan. H. P. (in press). How do speakers tailor lexical choices according to their interlocutor’s accent? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. [LINK]

2025

  1. Xu, Z., Yang, Y., Yuan, T., Feng, G., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). Neural Substrates Associated with Character Amnesia in Chinese Handwriting: A Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy Study. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 1–19. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02346 [LINK]
  2. Wang, S., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. (2025). What to predict? Exploring how sentence structure influences contrast predictions in humans and large language models. In T. Kuribayashi, G. Rambelli, E. Takmaz, P. Wicke, J. Li, & B.-D. Oh (Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics (pp. 244–252). NAACL 2025. [LINK]
  3. Wu, H., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. (2025). Distinct social-linguistic processing between humans and large audio-language models: Evidence from model-brain alignment. In T. Kuribayashi, G. Rambelli, E. Takmaz, P. Wicke, J. Li, & B.-D. Oh (Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics (pp. 135–143). NAACL 2025. [LINK]
  4. Qiu, Z., Duan, X. & Cai, Z. G. (2025). Grammaticality representation in ChatGPT as compared to linguists and laypeople. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12, 617.
  5. Haslett, D. A., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). How much semantic information is available in large language model tokens? Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 13, 408–423.
  6. Zhou, X., Chen, D., Cahyawijaya, S., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). Linguistic Minimal Pairs Elicit Linguistic Similarity in Large Language Models. Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics (pp. 6866–6888). Association for Computational Linguistics. https://aclanthology.org/2025.coling-main.459/
  7. Duan, X., Zhou, X., Xiao, B., & Cai, Z. (2025). Unveiling language competence neurons: A psycholinguistic approach to model interpretability. In O. Rambow, L. Wanner, M. Apidianaki, H. Al-Khalifa, B. D. Eugenio, & S. Schockaert (Eds.), Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics (pp. 10148–10157). Association for Computational Linguistics. https://aclanthology.org/2025.coling-main.677/
  8. Duan, X., Li, S., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). MacBehaviour: An R package for behavioural experimentation on large language models. Behavior Research Methods, 57, 19.https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-024-02524-y
  9. Xu, Z., Mittal, P. S., Ahmed, M. M., Adak, C., & Cai, Z. G. (2025). Assessing penmanship of Chinese handwriting: A deep learning-based approach. Reading and Writing, 38, 723–743. [LINK]
  10. Langsford, S., Xu, Z., & Cai, Z.G. (2025). Constructing a 30-item test for character amnesia in Chinese. Reading and Writing, 38, 121–141. [LINK]

2024

  1. Wang, S., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. (2024). A multimodal large language model “foresees” objects based on verb information but not gender. In L. Barak & M. Alikhani (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning (pp. 435–441). Association for Computational Linguistics. [LINK]
  2. Cai, Z., Duan, X., Haslett, D., Wang, S., & Pickering, M. (2024). Do large language models resemble humans in language use? In T. Kuribayashi, G. Rambelli, E. Takmaz, P. Wicke, & Y. Oseki (Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics (pp. 37–56). Association for Computational Linguistics. [LINK]
  3. Qiu, Z., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. (2024). Evaluating grammatical well-formedness in large language models: A comparative study with human judgments. In T. Kuribayashi, G. Rambelli, E. Takmaz, P. Wicke, & Y. Oseki (Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics (pp. 189–198). Association for Computational Linguistics.[LINK]
  4. Riemer, M., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Space-time interference: The asymmetry we get out is the asymmetry we put in. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 167, 105941. [LINK]
  5. Duan, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Chinese character processing. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics[LINK].
  6. Yang, T., Cai, Z.G., Lin, W., & Wang, R. (2024). Modality-general and modality-specific control mechanisms in bilingual spoken and written productions. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 27(5), 862–873. [LINK]
  7. Wu, H., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Speaker demographics modulate listeners' neural correlates of spoken word processing. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(10), 2208–2226. [LINK]
  8. Gao, R., Lin, Y., Zhao, N., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Machine translation of Chinese classical poetry: A comparison among ChatGPT, Google Translate and DeepL Translator. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, 835.[LINK]
  9. Thierfelder, P., Cai, Z. G., Huang, S., & Lin, H. (2024). The Chinese lexicon of deaf readers: A database of character decisions and a comparison between deaf and hearing readers. Behavior Research Methods, 56, 5732–5753. [LINK]
  10. Haslett, D. A., & Cai, Z. G. (2024). Wayward associations: When and why people think of similar-sounding words. Journal of Memory and Language, 138, 104537. [LINK]
  11. Cai, Z.G., & Zhao, N. (2024). Structural priming: An experimental paradigm for mapping linguistic representations. Language and Linguistics Compass, 18(2), e12507.[PDF]
  12. Haslett, D.A., & Cai, Z.G. (2024). Systematic mappings of sound to meaning: A theoretical review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 31(2), 627-648.[LINK]

2023

  1. Zhao, N., Cai, Z. G., Dong, Y. (2023). Speech errors in consecutive interpreting: Effects of language proficiency, working memory, and anxiety. PLoS ONE, 18(10): e0292718. [LINK]
  2. Qiu, Z., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. (2023). Does ChatGPT resemble humans in processing implicatures? In S. Chatzikyriakidis & V. de Paiva (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th Natural Logic Meets Machine Learning Workshop (pp. 25–34). Association for Computational Linguistics. https://aclanthology.org/2023.naloma-1.3/
  3. Cai, Z. G., Haslett, D. A., Duan, X., Wang, S., & Pickering, M. J. (2023). Does ChatGPT resemble humans in language use?. arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.08014.
  4. Haslett, D.A., & Cai, Z.G. (2023). Similar-sounding words flesh out fuzzy meanings. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(8), 2359–2368.[PDF]
  5. Xu, Z., & Cai, Z. G. (2023). Chinese character handwriting: Lexical effects, individual differences, character amnesia, and developmental dysgraphia. In Ye, Y., Inoue, T., Maurer, U., & McBride, C. (Eds), The Routledge International Handbook of Visual-motor Skills, Handwriting, and Spelling: Theory, Research, and Practice.[LINK]
  6. Cai, Z. G., Zhao, N., Lin, H., Xu, Z., & Thierfelder, P. (2023). Syntactic encoding in written language production by deaf writers: A structural priming study and a comparison with hearing writers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 49(6), 974–989. [PDF]

2022

  1. Cai, Z.G., Zhao, N., & Pickering, M.J. (2022). How do people interpret implausible sentences? Cognition, 225, 105101.[PDF]
  2. Zhao, N., Chen, X., & Cai, Z.G. (2022). Planning ahead: Interpreters predict source language in consecutive interpreting. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 25, 588–602.[PDF]
  3. Cai, Z.G. (2022). Interlocutor modelling in comprehending speech from interleaved interlocutors of different dialectic backgrounds. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 1026-1034.[PDF]
  4. Haslett, D.A., & Cai, Z.G. (2022). New neighbours make bad fences: Form-based semantic shifts in word learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 1017-1025.[PDF]
  5. Cai, Z.G., Wu, L., Liu, H., & Wang, R. (2022). Cross-dimensional magnitude interactions reflect statistical correlations among physical dimensions: Evidence from space-time interaction. Acta Psychologica, 227, 103608.[PDF]
  6. Morey, R.D., Kaschak, M.P., ... Cai, Z.G. et al. (2022). Pre-registered, multi-lab non-replication of the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 613–626.[PDF]
  7. Cai, Z.G., Huang, S., Xu, Z., & Zhao, N. (2022). Objective ages of acquisition for 3300+ simplified Chinese characters. Behavior Research Methods, 54, 311–323.[PDF]
  8. Cai, Z.G., & Wang, R. (2022). Cross-dimensional magnitude interaction is modulated by representational noise: Evidence from space-time interaction. Psychological Research, 86, 196-208. [PDF]

2021

  1. Cai, Z.G., Sun, Z., & Zhao, N.(2021). Interlocutor modelling in lexical alignment: The role of linguistic competence. Journal of Memory and Language, 121, 104278.[PDF]
  2. Huang, S., Lin, W., Xu, M., Wang, R., & Cai, Z.G. (2021). On the tip of the pen: Effects of character-level lexical variables and handwriter-level individual differences on orthographic retrieval difficulties in Chinese handwriting. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74, 1497-1511.[PDF]
  3. Huang, S., Zhou, Y., Du, M., Wang, R., & Cai, Z.G. (2021). Character amnesia in Chinese handwriting: A mega-study analysis. Language Sciences, 85, 101383.[PDF]

2020

  1. Wang, M., Cai, Z.G., Wang, R., Branigan, H.P., & Pickering, M.J. (2020). How do phonology and orthography feedback to influence syntactic encoding in language production? Evidence from structural priming in Mandarin. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,73, 1807–1819. [PDF]
  2. Wang, R., Huang, S., Zhou, Y., Cai, Z. G. (2020). Chinese character handwriting: A large-scale behavioural study and a database. Behavior Research Methods, 52, 82–96. [PDF]

2019

  1. Cai, Z. G., & Zhao, N. (2019). The sound of gender: Inferring the gender of names in a foreign language. Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science, 3, 63-73. [PDF]
  2. Huang, J., Pickering, M. J., Chen, X., Cai, Z. G., Wang, S., & Branigan, H. P. (2019). Does language similarity affect representational integration? Cognition, 185, 83-90. [PDF]
  3. Wei, H., Boland, J. E., Cai, Z. G., Yuan, F., & Wang, M. (2019). Persistent structural priming during online second-language comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(2), 349-359. [PDF]

2018

  1. Cai, Z. G., & Vigliocco, V. (2018). Word processing. In J. T. Wixted & S. Thompson-Schill (Eds), The Stevens’ Handbook of Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Volume 3: Language and Thought (4th edition) (pp.75-110). New York: Wiley. [PDF]
  2. Cai, Z. G., Wang, R., Shen, M. & Speekenbrink, M. (2018). Cross-dimensional magnitude interactions arise from memory interference. Cognitive Psychology, 106, 21-42. [PDF]
  3. Betts, H. N, Gilbert, R. A, Cai, Z. G., Okedara, Z. B, & Rodd, J. M. (2018). Retuning of lexical-semantic representations: Repetition and spacing effects in word-meaning priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44, 1130–1150. [PDF]

2017

  1. Cai, Z. G., Gilbert, R. A., Davis, M. H., Gaskell, M. G., Farrar, L., Adler, S., & Rodd, J. M. (2017). Accent modulates access to word meaning: Evidence for a speaker-model account of spoken word recognition. Cognitive Psychology, 98, 73-101. [PDF]
  2. Cai, Z. G., & Liu, H. (2017). Microscopic and macroscopic approaches to the mental representations of second languages. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 40, 19-20. (commentary). [PDF]

2016

  1. Xie J., Lu Z., Wang R., & Cai Z. G. (2016). Remember hard but think softly: Metaphorical effects of hardness/softness on cognitive functions. Frontiers in Psychology, 7:1343. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01343. [PDF]
  2. Cai, Z. G., & Connell, L. (2016). On magnitudes in memory: An internal clock account of the effect of space on time. Acta Psychologica, 168, 1-11. [PDF]
  3. Rodd, J. M., Cai, Z. G., Betts, H. N., Hanby, B., Hutchinson, C., & Adler, A. (2016). The impact of recent and long-term experience on access to word meanings: Evidence from large-scale internet-based experiments. Journal of Memory and Language, 87, 16-37. [PDF]
  4. Wang, R., Fan, X., Liu, C., & Cai, Z. G. (2016). Cognitive control and word recognition speed influence the Stroop effect in bilinguals. International Journal of Psychology, 51, 93–101. [PDF]

2015

  1. Cai, Z. G., & Connell, L. (2015). Space-time interdependence: Evidence against asymmetric mapping between time and space. Cognition, 136, 268-281. [PDF]
  2. Cai, Z. G., Pickering, M. J., Wang, R., & Branigan, H. P. (2015). It is there whether you hear it or not: Syntactic representations of missing arguments. Cognition, 136, 255-267. [PDF]

2014

  1. Rafray, C. N., Pickering, M. J., Cai, Z. G., & Branigan, H. P. (2014). The production of coerced expressions: Evidence from priming. Journal of Memory and Language, 74, 91-106. [PDF]
  2. Cai, Z. G., & Wang, R. (2014). Numerical magnitude affects temporal memories but not time encoding. PLoS ONE, 9(1): e83159. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083159. [PDF]

2013

  1. Cai, Z. G., Connell, L., & Holler, J. (2013). Time does not flow without language: Spatial distance affects temporal duration regardless of movement or direction. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20, 973–980. [PDF]
  2. Cai, Z. G., Pickering, M. J., & Sturt, P. (2013). Processing verb-phrase ellipsis in Mandarin Chinese: Evidence against the syntactic account. Language and Cognitive Processes, 28, 810-828. [PDF]
  3. Connell, L., Cai, Z. G., Holler, J. (2013). Do you see what I'm singing? Visuospatial movement biases pitch perception. Brain and Cognition, 81, 124-130. [PDF]

2012

  1. Cai, Z. G., Sturt, P., & Pickering, M. J. (2012). The effect of non-adopted analyses on sentence processing. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27, 1286-1311. [PDF]
  2. Cai, Z. G., Pickering, M. J., & Branigan, H. P. (2012). Mapping concepts to syntax: Evidence from structural priming in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of Memory and Language, 66, 833-849. [PDF]

2011

  1. Cai, Z. G., Pickering, M. J., Yan, H., & Branigan, H. P. (2011). Lexical and syntactic representations in closely related languages: Evidence from Mandarin and Cantonese. Journal of Memory and Language, 65, 431-445. [PDF]