Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, Conference Proceedings and Book Chapters

In Press

  1. Wu, H., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. (in press). Distinct social-linguistic processing between humans and large audio-language models: Evidence from model-brain alignment. Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics. NAACL 2025.
  2. Wang, S., Duan, X., & Cai, Z. (in press). What to Predict? Exploring How Sentence Structure Influences Contrast Predictions in Humans and Large Language Models. Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics. NAACL 2025.
  3. 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]
  4. Haslett, D. A., & Cai, Z. G. (in press). How much semantic information is available in large language model tokens? Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics.

2025

  1. 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/
  2. 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/
  3. 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
  4. 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]
  5. 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]