Cover not available

Article published In: Aging and Bilingualism
Edited by Ellen Bialystok and Margot D. Sullivan
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6:1/2] 2016
► pp. 119–146

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Auditory word recognition across the lifespan

Links between linguistic and nonlinguistic inhibitory control in bilinguals and monolinguals

 | San Diego State University
 | Northwestern University |
 | Gordon College |
 | Northwestern University |
 | Northwestern University |
Published online: 19 February 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.14030.blu
Abstract
Recent research suggests that bilingual experience reconfigures linguistic and nonlinguistic cognitive processes. We examined the relationship between linguistic competition resolution and nonlinguistic cognitive control in younger and older adults who were either bilingual or monolingual. Participants heard words in English and identified the referent among four pictures while eye-movements were recorded. Target pictures (e.g., cab) appeared with a phonological competitor picture (e.g., cat) and two filler pictures. After each eye-tracking trial, priming probes assessed residual activation and inhibition of target and competitor words. When accounting for processing speed, results revealed that age-related changes in activation and inhibition are smaller in bilinguals than in monolinguals. Moreover, younger and older bilinguals, but not monolinguals, recruited similar inhibition mechanisms during word identification and during a nonlinguistic Stroop task. Results suggest that, during lexical access, bilinguals show more consistent competition resolution and recruitment of cognitive control across the lifespan than monolinguals.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Current study
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Materials
    • 2.3Procedure
    • 2.4Data coding
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Target identification
      • 3.1.1Accuracies and reaction times
      • 3.1.2Eye-tracking during target identification
        • 3.1.2.1Target activation
        • 3.1.2.2Target deactivation (peak activation until the end of the trial)
        • 3.1.2.3Competitor activation and deactivation
    • 3.2Residual activation/inhibition (after target identification), as indexed by priming probes
    • 3.3Relation between linguistic processing and nonlinguistic Stroop performance
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Within-language lexical activation and competition
    • 4.2Residual activation
    • 4.3Links between linguistic and nonlinguistic cognitive control
    • 4.4Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (65)
References
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. W. (2008). Control mechanisms in bilingual language production: Neural evidence from language switching studies. Language and Cognitive Processes, 231, 557–582. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Alladi, S., Bak, T. H., Duggirala, V., Surampudi, B., Shailaja, M., Shukla, A. K., Chaudhuri, J. R., & Kaul, S. (2014). Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. Neurology, 811, 1938–1944. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bartolotti, J., & Marian, V. (2012). Language learning and control in monolinguals and bilinguals. Cognitive Science, 361, 1129–1147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2005). Consequences of bilingualism for cognitive development. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Cognitive Effects of Bilingualism: How Linguistic Experience Leads to Cognitive Change. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 101, 210–223. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Reshaping the mind: The benefits of bilingualism. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 651, 229–235.
Bialystok, E., & Craik, F. I.M. (2010). Cognitive and Linguistic Processing in the Bilingual Mind. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 191, 19–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Binns, M.A., Ossher, L., & Freedman, M. (2014). Effects of bilingualism on the age of onset and progression of MCI and AD: Evidence from executive function tests. Neuropsychology, 281, 290–304. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I.M., & Freedman, M. (2007). Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia.Neuropsychologia, 451, 459–464. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Green, D. W., & Gollan, T. H. (2009). Bilingual minds. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 101, 89–129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004). Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon Task. Psychology and Aging, 191, 290–303. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., & Luk, G. (2008). Cognitive control and lexical access in younger and older bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 341, 859–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blumenfeld, H. K., & Marian, V. (2007). Constraints on parallel activation in bilingual spoken language processing: Examining proficiency and lexical status using eye-tracking. Language and Cognitive Processes, 221, 633–660. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Bilingualism influences inhibitory control in auditory comprehension. Cognition, 1181, 245–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Parallel language activation and cognitive control during spoken word recognition in bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 251, 547–567. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). Cognitive control in bilinguals: Advantages in stimulus-stimulus inhibition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 171, 610–629. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brink, J., & McDowd, J. (1999). Aging and selective attention: An issue of complexity or multiple mechanisms? The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 541, P30–P33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Craik, F. I. M., Bialystok, E., & Freedman, M. (2010) . Delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease: Bilingualism as a form of cognitive reserve. Neurology, 751, 1726–1729. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Desroches, A. S., Newman, R. L., & Joanisse, M. F. (2009). Investigating the time course of spoken word recognition: electrophysiological evidence for the influences of phonological similarity. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 211, 1893–906. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Donohue, S., Liotti, M., Perez III, R., & Woldorff, M. (2012). Is conflict monitoring supramodal? Spatiotemporal dynamics of cognitive control processes in an auditory Stroop task. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 1–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunn, L., Lugo, D., Padilla, E. & Dunn, D. (1986). Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody. Circle Pines, Minn: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foldi, N., Helm-Estabrooks, N., Redfield, J., & Nickel, D. (2003). Perseveration in normal aging: A comparison of perseveration rates on design fluency and verbal generative tasks. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 101, 268–280. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garbin, G., Sanjuan, A., Forn, C., Bustamante, J. C., Rodriguez-Pujadas, A., Belloch, V., Hernandez, M., et al. (2010). Bridging language and attention: brain basis of the impact of bilingualism on cognitive control. NeuroImage, 531, 1272–1278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1993). Less skilled readers have less efficient suppression mechanisms. Psychological Science, 41, 294–298. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gernsbacher, M., & Faust, M. (1991). The mechanism of suppression: A component of general comprehension skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 171, 245–262.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gold, B. T., Kim, C., Johnson, N. F., Kriscio, R. J., & Smith, C.D. (2013). Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging. Journal of Neuroscience, 331, 387–396. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., & Ferreira, V.S. (2009). Should I stay or should I switch? A cost-benefit analysis of voluntary language switching in young and aging bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 640.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Montoya, R. I., Cera, C., & Sandoval, T.C. (2008). More use almost always a means a smaller frequency effect: Aging, bilingualism, and the weaker links hypothesis. Journal of Memory and Language, 581, 787–814. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Sandoval, T., & Salmon, D.P. (2011). Cross-language intrusion errors in aging bilinguals reveal the link between executive control and language selection. Psychological Science, 221, 1155–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goral, M., Libben, G., Obler, L. K., Jarema, G., & Ohayon, K. (2008). Lexical attrition in younger and older bilingual adults. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 221, 509–522. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gorfein, D. S., & Brown, V. R. (2007). Saying no to inhibition: the encoding and use of words. In D. S. Gorfein & C. M. MacLeod (Eds.). The Place of Inhibition in Cognition.Washington: APA Books. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Green, D. W. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 11, 67–81. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hilchey, M. D., & Klein, R.M. (2011). Are there bilingual advantages on nonlinguistic interference tasks? Implications for the plasticity of executive control processes. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 181, 625–658. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kane, M. J., & Engle, R.W. (2003). Working-memory capacity and the control of attention: the contributions of goal neglect, response competition, and task set to Stroop interference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 47.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirk, N. W., Fiala, L., Scott-Brown, K. C., & Kempe, V. (2014). No evidence for reduced Simon cost in elderly bilinguals and bidialectals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 261, 1–9. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kornblum, S. (1994). The way irrelevant dimensions are processed depends on what they overlap with: The case of Stroop-and Simon-like stimuli. Psychological Research, 561, 130–135. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krizman, J., Skoe, E., Marian, V., & Kraus, N. (2014). Bilingualism increases neural response consistency and attentional control: Evidence for sensory and cognitive coupling. Brain and Language, 1281, 34–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F. (2008). Juggling two languages in one mind. Psychological Science Agenda, American Psychological Association, 221.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Understanding the consequences of bilingualism for language processing and cognition. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 251, 497–514. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Bobb, S. C., Misra, M., & Guo, T. (2008). Language selection in bilingual speech: Evidence for inhibitory processes. Acta Psychologica, 1281, 416–430. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Dussias, P. E., Bogulski, C. A., & Valdes Kroff, J. R. (2012). Juggling two languages in one mind: What bilinguals tell us about language processing and its consequences for cognition. In B. Ross (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol. 561 (pp. 229–262). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Linck, J. A., Hoshino, N., & Kroll, J.F. (2008). Cross-language lexical processes and inhibitory control. The Mental Lexicon, 3, 349.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, X., Banich, M. T., Jacobson, B. L., & Tanabe, J.L. (2004). Common and distinct neural substrates of attentional control in an integrated Simon and spatial Stroop task as assessed by event-related fMRI. NeuroImage, 221, 1097–1106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luce, P. A., & Pisoni, D.B. (1998). Recognizing spoken words: the neighborhood activation model. Ear and Hearing, 191, 1–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lustig, C., Hasher, L., & Zacks, R.T. (2007). Inhibitory deficit theory: Recent developments in a “new view.” Inhibition in Cognition, 145–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marian, V., Chabal, S., Bartolotti, J., Bradley, K., & Hernandez, A. (2014). Differential recruitment of executive control regions during phonological competition in monolinguals and bilinguals. Brain and Language. .
Marian, V., & Spivey, M. (2003). Competing activation in bilingual language processing: Within- and between-language competition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 61, 97–115. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martín, M.C., Macizo, P., & Bajo, T. (2010). Time course of inhibitory processes in bilingual language processing. British Journal of Psychology, 1011, 679–693. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marslen-Wilson, W. D. (1987). Functional parallelism in spoken word recognition. Cognition, 251, 71–102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mason, R., & Just, M. (2007). Lexical ambiguity in sentence comprehension. Brain Research, 11461, 115–127. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McClelland, J.L., & Elman, J.L. (1986). The TRACE model of speech perception. Cognitive Psychology, 181, 1–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mercier, J., Pivneva, I., & Titone, D. (2013). Individual differences in inhibitory control relate to bilingual spoken word processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 171, 89–117. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mishra, R., Hilchey, M., Singh, N., & Klein, R. (2012). On the time course of exogenous cueing effects in bilinguals: Higher proficiency in a second language is associated with more rapid endogenous disengagement. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 651, 1502–1510. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morales, J., Yudes, C., Gómez-Ariza, C. J., & Bajo, M.T. (2015). Bilingualism modulates dual mechanisms of cognitive control: Evidence from ERPs. Neuropsychologia, 661, 157–169. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paap, K. R. I., & Greenberg, Z. (2013). There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology, 661, 232–258. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prior, A., & Gollan, T.H. (2011). Good language-switchers are good task-switchers: Evidence from Spanish-English and Mandarin-English bilinguals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 171, 682–691. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Revill, K. P., & Spieler, D. H. (2012). The effect of lexical frequency on spoken word recognition in young and older listeners. Psychology and Aging, 271, 80–7. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salthouse, T.A., & Meinz, E.J. (1995). Aging, inhibition, working memory, and speed. Journal of Gerontology, 50B1, 297–306. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seidenberg, M. S., Tanenhaus, M. K., Leiman, J. M., & Bienkowski, M. (1982). Automatic access of the meanings of ambiguous words in context: Some limitations of knowledge-based processing. Cognitive Psychology, 141, 489–537. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Singh, N., & Mishra, R. (2014). The modulatory role of second language proficiency on performance monitoring: Evidence from a saccadic countermanding task in high and low proficient bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1481.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swinney, D. 1979. Lexical access during sentence comprehension: (Re) consideration of context effects. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 181, 645–659 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weissberger, G. H., Wierenga, C. E., Bondi, M. W., & Gollan, T. H. (2012). Partially overlapping mechanisms of language and task control in young and older bilinguals. Psychology and Aging, 27, 959.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
West, R. & Baylis, G. (1998). Effects of increased response dominance and contextual disintegration on the Stroop interference effect in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 131, 206–217. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wingfield, A. (1996). Cognitive factor in auditory performance: context, speed of processing, and constraints of memory. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 71, 175–182.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (23)

Cited by 23 other publications

Chung-Fat-Yim, Ashley, Sayuri Hayakawa & Viorica Marian
2025. Language experience influences performance on the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery: A cluster analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12:1 DOI logo
Coemans, Silke, Esli Struys, Kyrana Tsapkini, Vânia de Aguiar, Sebastiaan Engelborghs, Jean-Christophe Bier, Philippe Paquier & Stefanie Keulen
2025. Modulating language and executive functions in bilingual aphasia with cerebellar tDCS: a case series. Brain and Language 269 ► pp. 105617 ff. DOI logo
Pathak, Lekhnath Sharma, Poshak Pathak & Ramesh Kumar Mishra
2025. Immersion in second language does not always attenuate and attrite first language: Evidence from Nepali–English bilinguals. International Journal of Bilingualism DOI logo
Carthery-Goulart, Maria Teresa, Adam John Privitera & Brendan Stuart Weekes
2023. Does Language Distance Modulate the Contribution of Bilingualism to Cognitive Reserve in Seniors? A Systematic Review. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias® 38 DOI logo
Liu, Hong
2023. Attention: The Cognitive Effects of Learning to Read in Arabic by Chinese Learners at an Old Age. Sage Open 13:3 DOI logo
Dash, Tanya, Yves Joanette & Ana Inés Ansaldo
2022. Multifactorial approaches to study bilingualism in the aging population: Past, present, future. Frontiers in Psychology 13 DOI logo
Degirmenci, Merve Gul, Judith Alina Grossmann, Patric Meyer & Birgit Teichmann
2022. The role of bilingualism in executive functions in healthy older adults: A systematic review. International Journal of Bilingualism 26:4 ► pp. 426 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Ruilin & Esli Struys
2022. A Domain-General Monitoring Account of Bilingual Language Control in Recognition: The Role of Language Dominance and Bilingual Experience. Frontiers in Psychology 13 DOI logo
Chabal, Sarah, Sayuri Hayakawa & Viorica Marian
2021. How a picture becomes a word: individual differences in the development of language-mediated visual search. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications 6:1 DOI logo
Marian, Viorica, James Bartolotti, Natalia L. Daniel & Sayuri Hayakawa
2021. Spoken words activate native and non-native letter-to-sound mappings: Evidence from eye tracking. Brain and Language 223 ► pp. 105045 ff. DOI logo
Ware, Caitlin, Sophie Dautricourt, Julie Gonneaud & Gael Chételat
2021. Does Second Language Learning Promote Neuroplasticity in Aging? A Systematic Review of Cognitive and Neuroimaging Studies. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 13 DOI logo
Grundy, John G.
2020. The effects of bilingualism on executive functions: an updated quantitative analysis. Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science 4:2 ► pp. 177 ff. DOI logo
Johannessen, Janne Bondi & Michael T. Putnam
2020. Heritage Germanic Languages in North America. In The Cambridge Handbook of Germanic Linguistics, ► pp. 783 ff. DOI logo
Kaushanskaya, Margarita, Henrike K. Blumenfeld & Viorica Marian
2020. The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Ten years later. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 23:5 ► pp. 945 ff. DOI logo
Donnelly, Seamus, Patricia J. Brooks & Bruce D. Homer
2019. Is there a bilingual advantage on interference-control tasks? A multiverse meta-analysis of global reaction time and interference cost. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 26:4 ► pp. 1122 ff. DOI logo
Ferreira, Geise Corrêa, Enma Mariángel Ortiz Torres, Michele Vargas Garcia, Sinéia Neujahr Santos & Maristela Julio Costa
2019. Bilinguismo e reconhecimento de fala no silêncio e no ruído em adultos. CoDAS 31:5 DOI logo
Wu, Ruilin, Esli Struys & Katja Lochtman
2019. Relationship between Language Dominance and Stimulus-Stimulus or Stimulus-Response Inhibition in Uyghur-Chinese Bilinguals with an Investigation of Speed-Accuracy Trade-Offs. Behavioral Sciences 9:4 ► pp. 41 ff. DOI logo
Zirnstein, Megan, Janet G van Hell & Judith F Kroll
2019. Cognitive control and language ability contribute to online reading comprehension: Implications for older adult bilinguals. International Journal of Bilingualism 23:5 ► pp. 971 ff. DOI logo
Bobb, Susan C. & Judith F. Kroll
2018. Words on the brain. In Bilingual Cognition and Language [Studies in Bilingualism, 54], ► pp. 307 ff. DOI logo
Blumenfeld, Henrike K., Sim J. R. Quinzon, Cindy Alsol & Stephanie A. Riera
2017. Predictors of Successful Learning in Multilingual Older Adults Acquiring a Majority Language. Frontiers in Communication 2 DOI logo
Freeman, Max R., Henrike K. Blumenfeld & Viorica Marian
2017. Cross-linguistic phonotactic competition and cognitive control in bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 29:7 ► pp. 783 ff. DOI logo
GRANT, ANGELA & NANCY DENNIS
2017. Increased processing speed in young adult bilinguals: evidence from source memory judgments. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 20:2 ► pp. 327 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. Bilingualism, Language Development and Processing across the Lifespan [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 15], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue