Bilingual advantage in executive control when task demands are considered

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
LI QU ◽  
JOEL JIA WEI LOW ◽  
TING ZHANG ◽  
HONG LI ◽  
PHILIP DAVID ZELAZO
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Mixing Costs ◽  
Switching Task

To examine how task demands influence bilingual advantage in executive control over monolinguals, we tested 32 Chinese monolinguals and 32 Chinese–English bilinguals with four versions of a color-shape switching task. During switching trials, the task required participants to suppress one set of conflicting (or non-conflicting) responses and simultaneously to activate another set of conflicting (or non-conflicting) responses. The results showed that compared to monolinguals, (i) when suppressing conflicting responses or (ii) activating non-conflicting responses, bilinguals had significantly smaller switching costs though similar mixing costs; (iii) when suppressing one set of conflicting responses and simultaneously activating another set of conflicting responses, bilinguals had significantly smaller switching costs though larger mixing costs; and (iv) when suppressing one set of non-conflicting responses and simultaneously activating another set of non-conflicting responses, bilinguals had similar switching costs and mixing costs. These findings indicate that task demands affect bilingual advantage in executive control.

scholarly journals A bilingual advantage in task switching? Age-related differences between German monolinguals and Dutch-Frisian bilinguals

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIENKE HOUTZAGER ◽  
WANDER LOWIE ◽  
SIMONE SPRENGER ◽  
KEES DE BOT
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Mixing Costs

This study investigated whether lifelong bilingualism can be associated with enhanced executive control, particularly mental flexibility, and with a modulation of an age-related decline in these functions. We compared performance of middle-aged and elderly speakers of German and bilingual speakers of Dutch and Frisian in a cued task-switching paradigm. All bilinguals were fluent in the same, closely-related language pairs. Bilinguals incurred significantly lower switching costs than monolinguals, and elderly bilinguals were less affected by an age-related increase in switching costs than monolinguals. Bilinguals did not differ from monolinguals in the size of the mixing costs. Our findings suggest that lifelong bilingualism correlates with enhanced ability to shift between mental sets, as well as increased resistance to proactive interference. The fact that we found significant group differences – while some previous studies did not – may be attributable to the choice of our task and to the cognateness of the languages involved.

Bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ performance on a non-verbal cognitive control task: How bilingual language experience contributes to cognitive performance by reducing mixing and switching costs

2020 ◽  
pp. 136700692094640
Author(s):  
Iryna Khodos ◽  
Christo Moskovsky ◽  
Stefania Paolini
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Onset Age ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Mixing Costs ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Switching Task

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The study investigated whether language experience predicts cognitive performance in bilingual and monolingual adults. As indicators of language experience, we focused on language context, typological proximity/distance between two languages and onset age of active bilingualism. As indicators of cognitive performance, we measured mixing costs and switching costs to gauge proactive and reactive control processes during a computerized non-verbal cognitive control task. Design/methodology/approach: Demographic and language data were collected with the Language and Social Background Questionnaire. Mixing and switching costs were subsequently obtained using a cued non-verbal switching task. Data and analysis: The background and switching-task data obtained from 60 bilinguals from non-English-speaking backgrounds and 24 English monolinguals residing in Australia were analysed using linear fixed-effects regression analyses. Findings/conclusions: The results showed that the use of two languages in a dual-language context was associated with reduced switching costs relative to monolingual and bilingual separated-language contexts and with reduced mixing costs only relative to a bilingual separated-language context. Among the bilinguals, lower mixing costs were also associated with an earlier onset age of active bilingualism and smaller typological distance between two languages. Originality: This study’s design included bilinguals as a target group and monolinguals as a control group, thus enabling the identification of possible mixing and/or switching cost advantages in bilinguals. By targeting young/middle-aged adults and considering a set of potentially relevant language experiences, this work was, therefore, well placed to provide clarity on findings for an age group that previously returned mixed and inconclusive results regarding a bilingual advantage. Significance/implications: Our findings reinforce the idea that particular dimensions of bilingual experience rather than bilingualism per se are linked to enhanced cognitive performance.

scholarly journals Executive control mechanisms in bilingualism: Beyond speed of processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
KLARA MARTON ◽  
MIRA GORAL ◽  
LUCA CAMPANELLI ◽  
JUNGMEE YOON ◽  
LORAINE K. OBLER
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Implicit Learning ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Baseline Response

The question of interest in this study was whether bilingual individuals show superior executive control compared to monolingual participants. Findings are mixed, with studies showing advantage, disadvantage, or no difference between bilingual and monolingual speakers. In this study, we used different experimental conditions to examine implicit learning, resistance to interference, monitoring, and switching, independently. In addition, we matched our monolingual and bilingual participants on baseline response time. Bilingual participants demonstrated faster implicit learning, greater resistance to interference, more efficient switching compared to monolingual participants. The groups did not differ in monitoring. In conclusion, depending on task complexity and on the target executive control component, there are different patterns of bilingual advantage, beyond the global faster processing speed documented in previous studies. Bilingual young adults showed more efficient adjustments of the cognitive system in response to changes in task demands.

Effect of Bilingualism on Multitasking: A Pilot Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
A Cell ◽  
The Difference

Bilingual speakers rely on attentional and executive control to continuously inhibit or activate linguistic representations of competing languages, which leads to an increased efficiency known as “bilingual advantage”. Both monolingual and bilingual speakers were asked to perform multiple tasks of talking on a cell phone while simultaneously attending to simulated driving events. This study examined the effect of bilingualism on participants' performance during a dual-task experiment based on 20 monolingual and 13 bilingual healthy adults. The within-subject and between-subject comparisons were conducted on reaction times of a visual event detection task for (a) only driving and (b) driving while simultaneously engaged in a phone conversation. Results of this study showed that bilingual speakers performed significantly faster than monolingual speakers during the multitasking condition, but not during the driving only condition. Further, bilingual speakers consistently showed a bilingual advantage in reaction times during the multitasking condition, despite varying degrees on a bilingual dominance scale. Overall, experiences in more than one language yield bilingual advantage in better performance than monolingual speakers during a multitasking condition, but not during a single task condition. Regardless of the difference in bilingual proficiency level, such language experience reveals a positive impact on bilingual speakers for multitasking.

scholarly journals Maximum Speech Performance and Executive Control in Young Adult Speakers

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3611-3627
Author(s):  
Chen Shen ◽  
Esther Janse
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Real Word ◽  
Performance Tasks ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Speech Performance ◽  
Tongue Twister ◽  
Switching Task ◽  
Cognitive Switching

Purpose This study investigated whether maximum speech performance, more specifically, the ability to rapidly alternate between similar syllables during speech production, is associated with executive control abilities in a nonclinical young adult population. Method Seventy-eight young adult participants completed two speech tasks, both operationalized as maximum performance tasks, to index their articulatory control: a diadochokinetic (DDK) task with nonword and real-word syllable sequences and a tongue-twister task. Additionally, participants completed three cognitive tasks, each covering one element of executive control (a Flanker interference task to index inhibitory control, a letter–number switching task to index cognitive switching, and an operation span task to index updating of working memory). Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to investigate how well maximum speech performance measures can be predicted by elements of executive control. Results Participants' cognitive switching ability was associated with their accuracy in both the DDK and tongue-twister speech tasks. Additionally, nonword DDK accuracy was more strongly associated with executive control than real-word DDK accuracy (which has to be interpreted with caution). None of the executive control abilities related to the maximum rates at which participants performed the two speech tasks. Conclusion These results underscore the association between maximum speech performance and executive control (cognitive switching in particular).

scholarly journals Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evy Woumans ◽  
Shauni Van Herck ◽  
Esli Struys
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Switching Behaviour ◽  
Switching Task ◽  
Determining Factor ◽  
Fluency Task

The bilingual advantage is a heavily debated topic in research on bilingualism. The current study further investigated one specific aspect of bilingualism proposed to be a determining factor for the bilingual advantage, namely language switching behaviour. We investigated whether a bilingual advantage can be detected in the executive functions of inhibition and shifting by comparing monolingual and bilingual participants on a Simon task and a colour–shape switching task. Furthermore, we examined the relation between these executive functions and language switching proficiency, as measured by a semantic verbal fluency task. In addition, the current study set out to investigate the convergence of self-reported language switching estimates and actual language switching proficiency. Results revealed a bilingual advantage for shifting, but not for inhibition. However, this bilingual advantage for shifting was not related to language switching behaviour. Additionally, we were unable to identify a relation between objective and subjective measures of switching abilities. These findings seem to confirm the existence of a bilingual advantage, but also once again validate its elusiveness, as demonstrated by the absence of bilingual benefits on our measure of inhibition. It furthermore questions the validity of switching measures employed in previous studies.

scholarly journals Novel-word learning, executive control and working memory: A bilingual advantage

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 763-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
MEESHA A. WARMINGTON ◽  
SWATHI KANDRU-POTHINENI ◽  
GRAHAM J. HITCH
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Independent Replication ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
Almost All

Studies of the effects of bilingualism on cognition have given results that do not consistently replicate, reflecting at least in part wide differences in criteria for bilingualism and heterogeneity of language combinations within studied samples. We examined the bilingual advantage in attention, working memory and novel-word learning in early sequential Hindi–English bilinguals. We sought to clarify the aspects of cognition that benefit from bilingualism by using multiple measures and a sample sufficiently well-defined to permit independent replication. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on response inhibition, novel-word learning and almost all working memory tasks. In contrast, both groups performed comparably on selective attention. Analyses of individual differences showed that bilingual novel-word learning was related to their verbal working memory and ability to inhibit an ongoing action, whereas this was not the case for monolinguals. Results indicate a specific bilingual advantage that is confined to some but not all aspects of cognition.

scholarly journals Visual perspective taking is not automatic in a simplified Dot task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Rubio-Fernandez ◽  
Madeleine Long ◽  
Vishakha Shukla ◽  
Vrinda Bhatia ◽  
Pawan Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Visual Perspective ◽  
Visual Perspective Taking ◽  
Sighted Child ◽  
Egocentric Bias ◽  
Perspective Switching

In the Dot task, children and adults involuntarily compute an avatar’s visual perspective, which has been interpreted as automatic Theory of Mind. We conducted three experiments in India, testing newly sighted children (N=5; all girls), neurotypical children (ages 5-10; N=90; 38 girls) and adults (N=30; 18 women) in a highly simplified version of the Dot task. No evidence of automatic perspective-taking was observed, although all groups revealed perspective-taking costs. A newly sighted child and the youngest children in our sample also showed an egocentric bias, which disappeared by age 10. Responding to recent work on what Theory of Mind tasks actually measure, we conclude that the standard Dot task relies so heavily on Executive Control that the alleged evidence of automatic Theory of Mind might simply reveal perspective switching costs.

scholarly journals Executive control in bilingual aphasia: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Saskia Mooijman ◽  
Rob Schoonen ◽  
Ardi Roelofs ◽  
Marina B. Ruiter
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Current State ◽  
Domain Generality ◽  
Language Control ◽  
Bilingual Aphasia ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Everyday Communication ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Much research has been dedicated to the effects of bilingualism on executive control (EC). For bilinguals with aphasia, the interplay with EC is complex. In this systematic review, we synthesize research on this topic and provide an overview of the current state of the field. First, we examine the evidence for EC deficits in bilingual persons with aphasia (bPWA). We then discuss the domain generality of bilingual language control impairments. Finally, we evaluate the bilingual advantage hypothesis in bPWA. We conclude that (1) EC impairments in bPWA are frequently observed, (2) experimental results on the relationship between linguistic and domain-general control are mixed, (3) bPWA with language control problems in everyday communication have domain-general EC problems, and (4) there are indications for EC advantages in bPWA. We end with directions for experimental work that could provide better insight into the intricate relationship between EC and bilingual aphasia.

Bilingualism and Attention in Typically Developing Children and Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (11) ◽  
pp. 4105-4118
Author(s):  
Jisook Park ◽  
Carol A. Miller ◽  
Teenu Sanjeevan ◽  
Janet G. van Hell ◽  
Daniel J. Weiss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Attentional Networks ◽  
Orienting Effect ◽  
Age Range

Purpose The aim of the current study was to investigate whether dual language experience modulates the efficiency of the 3 attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) in typically developing (TD) children and in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Method We examined the attentional networks in monolingual and bilingual school-aged children (ages 8–12 years) with and without DLD. TD children (35 monolinguals, 23 bilinguals) and children with DLD (17 monolinguals, 9 bilinguals) completed the Attention Network Test ( Fan et al., 2002 ; Fan, McCandliss, Fossella, Flombaum, & Posner, 2005 ). Results Children with DLD exhibited poorer executive control than TD children, but executive control was not modified by bilingual experience. The bilingual group with DLD and both TD groups exhibited an orienting effect, but the monolingual group with DLD did not. No group differences were found for alerting. Conclusions Children with DLD have weak executive control skills. These skills are minimally influenced by dual language experience, at least in this age range. A potential bilingual advantage in orienting may be present in the DLD group.

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