Cover not available

In:Bilingualism, Executive Function, and Beyond: Questions and insights
Edited by Irina A. Sekerina, Lauren Spradlin and Virginia Valian
[Studies in Bilingualism 57] 2019
► pp. 295–336

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

Chapter 19
Teasing apart factors influencing executive function performance in bilinguals and monolinguals at different ages

 | Florida International University
 | Bangor University
 | The Education University of Hong Kong
 | Bangor University
 | Bangor University
 | Bangor University
 | Bangor University
 | Bangor University
 | Bangor University
Published online: 12 June 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.57.19gat
Abstract
This study attempts to tease apart a variety of factors that may contribute to performance on executive function tasks. Data from the Simon task are re-examined to determine the contributions of age, SES, language proficiency/vocabulary, general cognitive performance, and bilingualism on performance. The results suggest influence from a variety of factors, with major contributions from relative age and from language proficiency, as measured by vocabulary. Bilingualism showed some effect in relation to older adults’ accuracy of performance, in both congruent and incongruent conditions, but not to reaction time.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.This study
    • 2.1Method
      • 2.1.1Participants
      • 2.1.2Stimuli
        • 2.1.2.1Simon tasks
          • 2.1.2.1.1Adult version
          • 2.1.2.1.2Child version
          • 2.1.2.1.3Procedure
        • 2.1.2.2English vocabulary
        • 2.1.2.3Cognitive abilities
        • 2.1.2.4SES
    • 2.2Results
      • 2.2.1Correlations
      • 2.2.2Regressions
        • 2.2.2.1Accuracy
          • 2.2.2.1.1Congruent condition
          • 2.2.2.1.2Incongruent condition
        • 2.2.2.2RT
          • 2.2.2.2.1Congruent condition
          • 2.2.2.2.2Incongruent condition
        • 2.2.2.3Difference scores
          • 2.2.2.3.1Diff ACC
          • 2.2.2.3.2Diff RT
        • 2.2.2.4Summary, regression analyses
  • 3.Discussion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
  • Appendix
References (42)
References
Adesope, O. O., Lavin, T., Thompson, T., & Ungerleider, C. (2010). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the cognitive correlates of bilingualism. Review of Educational Research, 80, 207–245. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (5th ed.). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2006). Effect of bilingualism and computer video game experience on the Simon task. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60, 68–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Reshaping the mind: the benefits of bilingualism. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65, 229–235. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Bruin, A., Treccani, B., & Della Sala, S. (2015). Cognitive advantage in bilingualism: an example of publication bias? Psychological Science, 26, 99–107. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E. (2014). Independent effects of bilingualism and socioeconomic status on language ability and executive functioning. Cognition, 130, 278–288. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clare, L., Whitaker, C. J., Craik, F. I. M., Bialystok, E., Martyr, A., Martin-Forbes, P. J., Bastable, A. J. M., Pye, K. L., Quinn, C., Thomas, E. M., Gathercole, V. C. M., Hindle, J. V. (2014). Bilingualism, executive control and age at diagnosis among people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease in Wales. Journal of Neuropsychology. Article first published online: 25 NOV 2014 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Costa, A., Hernández, M., Costa-Faidella, J., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2009). On the bilingual advantage in conflict processing: Now you see it, now you don’t. Cognition, 113 (2), 135–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Costa, A., Hernández, M., & Sebastian-Galles, Galles. (2008). Bilingualism aids conflict resolution: evidence from the ANT task. Cognition, 106, 59–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dijkstra, T., & Van Heuven, W. J. B. (1998). The BIA-model and bilingual word recognition. In J. Grainger, & A. Jacobs (Eds.), Localist connectionist approaches to human cognition (pp. 189–225). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duñabeitia, J. A., Hernández, J. A., Antón, E., Macizo, P., Estévez, A., Fuentes, L. J., & Carreiras, M. (2014). The inhibitory advantage in bilingual children revisited: Myth or reality? Experimental Psychology, 61(3), 234–251. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., Dunn, L. M., & Whetton, C. (1982). The British Picture Vocabulary Scale: Manual for the Short and Long Forms. London: NFER-NELSON.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Friedman, N. (2015). What is (are) executive function(s)? Insights from individual differences research. Paper presented at Bilingualism and Executive Function: An Interdisciplinary Approach. CUNY, May 17–18, 2015.
Gathercole, V. C. M., Kennedy, I., & Thomas, E. M. (2015). Socioeconomic levels and bilinguals’ performance on language and cognitive measures. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. / FirstView Article / January 2016, pp 1–22 , Published online: 06 August 2015Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. M., Pérez-Tattam, R., Stadthagen-González, H., & Thomas, E. M. (2014a). Bilingual construction of two systems: To interact or not to interact? In E. M. Thomas & I. Mennen (Eds.), Advances in the study of bilingualism (pp. 63–89). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. M., Thomas, E. M., Jones, L., Viñas Guasch, N., Young, N., & Hughes, E. K. (2010). Cognitive effects of bilingualism: Digging deeper for the contributions of language dominance, linguistic knowledge, socioeconomic status, and cognitive abilities. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13, 617–665. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. M., Thomas, E. M., Kennedy, I., Prys, C., Young, N., Viñas Guasch, N., Roberts, E. J., Hughes, E. K., & Jones, L. (2014b). Does language dominance affect cognitive performance in Bilinguals? Lifespan evidence from preschoolers through older adults on Card Sorting, Simon, and Metalinguistic Tasks. Special issue on the Development of Executive Function in Children, Frontiers in Psychology: Developmental Psychology, 5, article 11.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. M., Thomas, E. M., Roberts, E., Hughes, C., & Hughes, E. K. (2013). Why assessment needs to take exposure into account: Vocabulary and grammatical abilities in bilingual children. In V. C. M. Gathercole (Ed.), Issues in the assessment of bilinguals. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 20–55. 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, 22, 1155–1164. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goriot, C., Denessen, E., Bakker, J., & Droop, M. (2015). Benefits of being bilingual? The relationship between pupils’ perceptions of teachers’ appreciation of their home language and executive functioning. International Journal of Bilingualism, 1–14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hakuta, K. (1986). Mirror of language: The debate on bilingualism. New York: Basic Books.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 and Review, 18, 625–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hindle, J., Martin-Forbes, P., Bastable, A., Pye, K., Martyr, A., Whitaker, C., Craik, F. I. M., Bialystok, E., Thomas, E., Gathercole, V. C. M., & Clare, L. (in press, 2015). Cognitive reserve in Parkinson’s disease: The effects of Welsh-English bilingualism on executive function. Parkinson’s Disease. Article ID 943572, 10 pages. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klein, R. M. (2015). On the belief that the cognitive exercise associated with the acquisition of a second language enhances extra-linguistic cognitive functions: Is “Type-I incompetence” at work here? Cortex 73, 340–341.Jarvis, S., & Pavlenko, A. (2008). Crosslinguistic influence in language and cognition. N.Y.: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kousaie, S., Sheppard, C., Lemieux, M., Monetta, L., & Taler, V. (2014). Executive function and bilingualism in young and older adults. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Macnamara, J. (1966). Bilingualism and primary education. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marton, K. (2015). Do bilingual children perform more efficiently in different experimental tasks than their monolingual peers? Paper presented at Bilingualism and Executive Function: An Interdisciplinary Approach. CUNY, May 17–18, 2015.
McCarthy, D. (1972). McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities. New York: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current Directions Psychological Science, 21(1): 8–14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morton, J. B., & Harper, S. N. (2007). What did Simon say? Revisiting the bilingual advantage. Developmental Science, 10, 719–726. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paap, K. R., & Greenberg, Z. I. (2013). There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology, 66, 232–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paap, K. R., Johnson, H. A., & Sawi, O. (2015). Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to very specific and undetermined circumstances. Cortex 69, 265–78. . Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Patterson, J., & Pearson, B. Z. (2004). Bilingual lexical development: influences, contexts, and processes. In G. Goldstein (Ed.), Bilingual language development and disorders in Spanish-English speakers (pp. 77–104). Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Raven, J. C., Court, J. H., & Raven, J. (1983). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales (Section 3) – Standard Progressive Matrices (1983 edition). London: Lewis.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sabbagh, M. A., Xu, F., Carlson, S. M., Moses, L. J., & Lee, K. (2006). The development of executive functioning and theory of mind: A comparison of Chinese and U.S. preschoolers. Psychological Science, 17(1): 74–81. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Soares, C., & Grosjean, F. (1984). Bilinguals in a monolingual and a bilingual speech mode: The effect on lexical access. Memory and Cognition, 12, 380–386. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (2015). Referring expressions and executive functions in child and adult bilinguals. Paper presented Bilingualism and Executive Function: An Interdisciplinary Approach. CUNY, May 17–18, 2015.
Thomas, E. M., Gathercole, V. C. M., & Hughes, E. K. (2013). Sociolinguistic influences on the linguistic achievement of bilinguals: Issues for the assessment of minority language competence. In V. C. M. Gathercole (ed.), Solutions for the assessment of bilinguals (pp. 175–193). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valian, V. (2015). Bilingualism and cognition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 (1), 2015, 3–24. 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, 959–974. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Woumans, E., & Duyck, W. (2015). The bilingual advantage debate: Moving toward different methods for verifying its existence. Cortex, 73, 356–357. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue