Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-fnpn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T20:07:43.019Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Second language (L2) proficiency, socioeconomic status (SES), and intelligence (IQ) are significant predictors of cognitive control differences among young adult unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2018

ZHILONG XIE Open the ORCID record for ZHILONG XIE [Opens in a new window]  and
TERESA SIGNORELLI PISANO
ZHILONG XIE*
Affiliation:
Foreign Languages College, Jiangxi Normal University, China
TERESA SIGNORELLI PISANO
Affiliation:
Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Zhilong Xie, 99 Ziyang Avenue, Nanchang, 330022, Jiangxi, Chinacollinthank@163.com, zhilongxie@jxnu.edu.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The current study investigates how second-language (L2) proficiency contributes to cognitive control differences among three groups of unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals matched for socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence (IQ), education, age, culture, and L1 background. A Flanker task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were administered to measure conflict monitoring, inhibition, and mental set shifting. ANOVA analyses revealed faster performance for the High-L2 Group compared to the Low-L2 Group in the congruent, neutral, and incongruent conditions of the Flanker task. However, there were no group differences on the WCST. Multiple step-wise regression analyses showed that L2 proficiency was a predictor for the Flanker task performance in all three conditions, SES in the neutral and the incongruent condition, and IQ in the congruent condition. These results suggest that L2 proficiency, along with SES and IQ, contribute significantly to cognitive control differences in conflict monitoring among young-adult bilinguals.

Keywords

L2 proficiencySESIQcognitive controlconflict monitoringbilingual advantage
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 866 - 882
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abutalebi, J., Canini, M., Della Rosa, P. A., Green, D. W., & Weekes, B. S. (2015). The neuroprotective effects of bilingualism upon the inferior parietal lobule: A structural neuroimaging study in aging Chinese bilinguals. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 33, 3–13.Google Scholar
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. (2007). Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 20 (3), 242–275.Google Scholar
Anton, E., Dunabeitia, J. A., Estevez, A., Hernandez, J. A., Castillo, A., Fuentes, L. J., Davidson, D. J., & Carreiras, M. (2014). Is there a bilingual advantage in the ANT task? Evidence from children. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 398. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00398Google Scholar
Barceló, F., & Knight, R. T. (2002). Both random and perseverative errors underlie WCST deficits in prefrontal patients. Neuropsychologia, 40 (3), 349–356.Google Scholar
Becker, M., Schubert, T., Strobach, T., Gallinat, J., & Kuhn, S. (2016). Simultaneous interpreters vs. professional multilingual controls: Group differences in cognitive control as well as brain structure and function. Neuroimage, 134, 250–260.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (1999). Cognitive complexity and attentional control in the bilingual mind. Child Development, 70, 636–644.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2016). How hazy views become full pictures. Language, Cognition & Neuroscience, 31 (3), 328–330.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2017). The bilingual adaptation: How minds accommodate experience. Psychological Bulletin, 143 (3), 233–262.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., Green, D. W., & Gollan, T. H. (2009). Bilingual minds. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 10 (3), 89–129.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004). Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task. Psychology and Aging, 19 (2), 290–303.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Freedman, M. (2007). Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia, 45 (2), 459–464.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Martin, M. M. (2004). Attention and inhibition in bilingual children: evidence from Attention and inhibition the dimensional change card sort task. Developmental Science, 7 (3), 325–339.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Poarch, G. (2014). Language experience changes language and cognitive ability. Z Erziehwiss, 17 (3), 433–446.Google Scholar
Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E. (2014). Independent effects of bilingualism and socioeconomic status on language ability and executive functioning. Cognition, 130 (3), 278–288.Google Scholar
Carlson, S. M., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2008). Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children. Developmental Science, 11 (2), 282–298.Google Scholar
Carlson, S. M., Moses, L. J., & Breton, C. (2002). How specific is the relation between executive function and theory of mind? Contributions of inhibitory control and working memory. Infant and Child Development, 11 (2), 73–92.Google Scholar
Checa, P., & Fernandez-Berrocal, P. (2015). The Role of intelligence quotient and emotional intelligence in cognitive control processes. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1853. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01853Google Scholar
Chen, S. H., Zhou, Q., Uchikoshi, Y., & Bunge, S. A. (2014). Variations on the bilingual advantage? Links of Chinese and English proficiency to Chinese American children's self-regulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1069. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01069Google Scholar
Colzato, L. S., Bajo, M. T., van den Wildenberg, W., Paolieri, D., Nieuwenhuis, S., La Heij, W., & Hommel, B. (2008). How does bilingualism improve executive control? A comparison of active and reactive inhibition mechanisms. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 34 (2), 302–312.Google Scholar
Costa, A., Caramazza, A., & Sebastian-Galles, N. (2000). The cognate facilitation effect: implications for models of lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26 (5), 1283.Google Scholar
Costa, A., Hernandez, M., Costa-Faidella, J., & Sebastian-Galles, N. (2009). On the bilingual advantage in conflict processing: now you see it, now you don't. Cognition, 113 (2), 135–149.Google Scholar
Costa, A., Hernandez, M., & Sebastian-Galles, N. (2008). Bilingualism aids conflict resolution: evidence from the ANT task. Cognition, 106 (1), 59–86.Google Scholar
Crivello, C., Kuzyk, O., Rodrigues, M., Friend, M., Zesiger, P., & Poulin-Dubois, D. (2016). The effects of bilingual growth on toddlers' executive function. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 141, 121–132.Google Scholar
De Bot, K. (2000). A bilingual production model: Levelt's “speaking” model adapted. The Bilingualism Reader, 420–442.Google Scholar
de Bruin, A., Treccani, B., & Della Sala, S. (2015). Cognitive advantage in bilingualism: an example of publication bias? Psychological Science, 26 (1), 99–107.Google Scholar
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.Google Scholar
Dong, Y., & Liu, Y. (2016). Classes in translating and interpreting produce differential gains in switching and updating. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1297. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01297Google Scholar
Dong, Y., & Xie, Z. (2014). Contributions of second language proficiency and interpreting experience to cognitive control differences among young adult bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 26 (5), 506–519.Google Scholar
Eriksen, B. A., & Eriksen, C. W. (1974). Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a non-search task. Perception & Psychophysics, 16 (1), 143–149.Google Scholar
Festman, J., & Munte, T. F. (2012). Cognitive control in Russian-german bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 115. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00115Google Scholar
García-Pentón, L., García, Y. F., Costello, B., Duñabeitia, J. A., & Carreiras, M. (2016). The neuroanatomy of bilingualism: how to turn a hazy view into the full picture. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31 (3), 303–327.Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C., Thomas, E. M., Kennedy, I., Prys, C., Young, N., Vinas Guasch, N., Roberts, E. J., Hughes, E. K., & Jones, L. (2014). Does language dominance affect cognitive performance in bilinguals? Lifespan evidence from preschoolers through older adults on card sorting, Simon, and metalinguistic tasks. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 11. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00011Google Scholar
Gathercole, V. C. M., Kennedy, I., & Thomas, E. M. (2015). Socioeconomic level and bilinguals’ performance on language and cognitive measures. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1–22. doi: 10.1017/s1366728915000504Google Scholar
Green, D. W. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1 (02), 67–81.Google Scholar
Green, D. W. (2011). Language control in different contexts: the behavioral ecology of bilingual speakers. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 103. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00103Google Scholar
Green, D. W., & Abutalebi, J. (2013). Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25 (5), 515–530.Google Scholar
Grigornko, E. L., Sternberg, R. J., & Ehrman, M. E. (2000). A theory‐based approach to the measurement of foreign language learning ability: The canal‐F theory and test. The Modern Language Journal, 84 (3), 390–405.Google Scholar
Hartman, M., Bolton, E., & Fehnel, S. E. (2001). Accounting for age difference on the wisconsin card sorting test: decreased working memory, not inflexibility. Psychology and Aging, 16 (3), 385–399.Google Scholar
Hervais-Adelman, A. G., Moser-Mercer, B., & Golestani, N. (2011). Executive control of language in the bilingual brain: integrating the evidence from neuroimaging to neuropsychology. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 234. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00234Google 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 (4), 625–658.Google Scholar
Hook, C. J., Lawson, G. M., & Farah, M. J. (2013).Socioeconomic status and the development of executive function. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development 1–7 http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/Hook-Lawson-FarahANGxp1.pdf. .Google Scholar
Khare, V., Verma, A., Kar, B., Srinivasan, N., & Brysbaert, M. (2012). Bilingualism and the increased attentional blink effect: Evidence that the difference between bilinguals and monolinguals generalizes to different levels of second language proficiency. Psychological Research, 2012 Nov 30. [Epub ahead of print].Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Bobb, S. C., Misra, M., & Guo, T. (2008). Language selection in bilingual speech: evidence for inhibitory processes. Acta Psychologica (Amst), 128 (3), 416–430.Google Scholar
Lee, H. W., Lo, Y. H., Li, K. H., Sung, W. S., & Juan, C. H. (2015). The relationship between the development of response inhibition and intelligence in preschool children. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 802. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00802Google Scholar
Lehtonen, M., Soveri, A., Laine, A., Järvenpää, J., de Bruin, A., & Antfolk, J. (2018). Is bilingualism associated with enhanced executive functioning in adults? a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000142Google Scholar
Li, D. (1989). Combined Raven's test (Chinese version). Shanghai: East China Normal University Press.Google Scholar
Luk, G., Anderson, J. A., Craik, F. I., Grady, C., & Bialystok, E. (2010). Distinct neural correlates for two types of inhibition in bilinguals: response inhibition versus interference suppression. Brain and Cognition, 74 (3), 347–357.Google Scholar
Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q) Assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50, 940–967.Google Scholar
Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U., O'Doherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S., & Price, C. J. (2004). Neurolinguistics: Structural plasticity in the bilingual brain. Nature, 431, 757. https://doi.org/1.1038/431757aGoogle Scholar
Mishra, R. K. (2014). Let's not forget about language proficiency and cultural variations while linking bilingualism to executive control. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 (01), 39–40.Google Scholar
Mishra, R. K., Hilchey, M. D., Singh, N., & Klein, R. M. (2012). On the time course of exogenous cueing effects in bilinguals: higher proficiency in a second language is associated with more rapid endogenous disengagement. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65 (8), 1502–1510.Google Scholar
Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21 (1), 8–14.Google Scholar
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “Frontal Lobe” tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41 (1), 49–100.Google Scholar
Monsell, S. (1996). Control of mental processes. In Bruce, V. (Ed.), Unsolved mysteries of the mind: Tutorial essays in cognition. Hove, U.K.: Erlbaum, Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Morales, J., Padilla, F., Gomez-Ariza, C. J., & Bajo, M. T. (2015). Simultaneous interpretation selectively influences working memory and attentional networks. Acta Psychologica (Amst), 155, 82–91.Google Scholar
Moriguchi, Y., & Hiraki, K. (2009). Neural origin of cognitive shifting in young children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106 (14), 6017–6021.Google Scholar
Olsen, R. K., Pangelinan, M. M., Bogulski, C., Chakravarty, M. M., Luk, G., Grady, C. L., & Bialystok, E. (2015). The effect of lifelong bilingualism on regional grey and white matter volume. Brain Research, 1612, 128–139.Google Scholar
Paap, K. R., & Greenberg, Z. I. (2013). There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology, 66 (2), 232–258.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, 265–278.Google Scholar
Paap, K. M. Sawi, O., Dalibar, C., Darrow, J., & A. Johnson, H. (2015). Beyond panglossian optimism: larger N2 amplitudes probably signal a bilingual disadvantage in conflict monitoring. AIMS Neuroscience, 2 (1), 1–6.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, 17 (4), 682–691.Google Scholar
Prior, A., & MacWhinney, B. (2010). A bilingual advantage in task switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13 (02), 253–262.Google Scholar
Raven, J. C., Court, J. H., & Raven, J. (1977). Manual for Raven's advanced progressive matrices: Sets I and II London, England: H.K. Lewis&Co.Ltd.Google Scholar
Rosselli, M., Ardila, A., Lalwani, L. N., & Vélez-Uribe, I. (2016). The effect of language proficiency on executive functions in balanced and unbalanced Spanish–English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19 (3), 489–503.Google Scholar
Segretin, M. S., Lipina, S. J., Hermida, M. J., Sheffield, T. D., Nelson, J. M., Espy, K. A., & Colombo, J. A. (2014). Predictors of cognitive enhancement after training in preschoolers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 205. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00205Google Scholar
Teubner-Rhodes, S. E., Mishler, A., Corbett, R., Andreu, L., Sanz-Torrent, M., Trueswell, J. C., & Novick, J. M. (2016). The effects of bilingualism on conflict monitoring, cognitive control, and garden-path recovery. Cognition, 150, 213–231.Google Scholar
Valian, V. (2015). Bilingualism and cognition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 (01), 3–24.Google Scholar
Vega-Mendoza, M., West, H., Sorace, A., & Bak, T. H. (2015). The impact of late, non-balanced bilingualism on cognitive performance. Cognition, 137, 40–46.Google Scholar
Verreyt, N., Woumans, E., Vandelanotte, D., Szmalec, A., & Duyck, W. (2016). The influence of language-switching experience on the bilingual executive control advantage. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19 (01), 181–190.Google Scholar
von Bastian, C. C., Souza, A. S., & Gade, M. (2015). No evidence for bilingual cognitive advantages: A test of four hypotheses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, No Pagination Specified. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000120Google Scholar
Wermelinger, S., Gampe, A., & Daum, M. M. (2017). Bilingual toddlers have advanced abilities to repair communication failure. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 155, 84–94.Google Scholar
Xie, Z., & Dong, Y. (2017). Contributions of bilingualism and public speaking training to cognitive control differences among young adults. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20 (01), 55–68.Google Scholar
Yang, H., Hartanto, A., & Yang, S. (2016). The importance of bilingual experience in assessing bilingual advantages in executive functions. Cortex, 75, 237–240.Google Scholar
Yudes, C., Macizo, P., & Bajo, T. (2011). The influence of expertise in simultaneous interpreting on non-verbal executive processes. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 309. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00309Google Scholar