Conflict adaptation processing in code-switching among Chinese-English-Japanese trilinguals during language comprehension: evidence from the n-3 effect

The present study investigates conflict adaptation processing in code-switching during language comprehension among Chinese-English-Japanese trilinguals, using the n-3 effect as a novel behavioural marker. Drawing on conflict monitoring theory, this study examined whether language comprehension performance is facilitated following high-conflict trials (ABA sequences) compared to low-conflict trials (CBA sequences), and whether this effect is influenced by language proficiency. Chinese-English-Japanese trilingual participants completed semantic categorization tasks involving stimuli in their three languages. Reaction times and accuracy were analyzed using linear mixed-effects modelling. The results revealed a significant n-3 effect in reaction times, indicating that conflict adaptation occurs in multilingual language comprehension. However, language proficiency of A involved in ABA sequences or CBA sequences did not significantly modulate the magnitude of the n-3 effect. These findings provide the evidence of the n-3 effect in comprehension-based code-switching and highlight the role of language proficiency in shaping overall processing efficiency. The study extends models of multilingual language control by demonstrating that adaptive control mechanisms are active not only in production but also in comprehension, particularly in complex, typologically diverse language environments.