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The bilingual advantage in the Stroop task: simultaneous vs. early bilinguals*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2014

LAURA SABOURIN  and
SANTA VĪNERTE
LAURA SABOURIN*
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of Ottawa
SANTA VĪNERTE
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of Ottawa
*
Address for correspondence: Laura Sabourin, Linguistics Department, University of Ottawa, 70 Laurier Ave. E. Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, CanadaLaura.Sabourin@uottawa.ca
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Abstract

The Stroop task has become a popular paradigm in investigations of bilingual cognitive control. While several studies show a cognitive control advantage for bilinguals, recent studies have countered these findings. The present study investigates two factors that may account for conflicting results: participant grouping and task difficulty. While we find no differences between simultaneous and early bilinguals (age groups traditionally both classified as “early” bilinguals) when the task uses only one language, we find a significant difference between the two when languages are mixed. We suggest treating the two groups as distinct, and note the importance of the bilingual context.

Keywords

cognitive controlbilingualismStroop tasksimultaneous bilingualsearly bilinguals
Type
Research Note
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 18 , Special Issue 2: L3 Acquisition: A Focus on Cognitive Approaches , April 2015 , pp. 350 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

*

We would like to thank Sameer Ratti, Yu Ying Li and Natalie Ho for their help with testing participants. We further thank all members of the Brain and Language Lab for discussions during the setting up and implementing of this research. We also thank Greg Poarch and one anonymous reviewer for comments on an earlier version of this paper. This research was supported by a SSHRC grant to the first author.

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