The impact of age of onset on bilinguals’ task switching performance in a nonimmigration context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jmbs.23808Keywords:
task switching, age of onset, nonimmigration contexts, bilingualism, single-language contextsAbstract
It is not clear whether bilingualism leads to task switching benefits in single-language nonimmigration contexts, as in dual-language and code-switching immigration contexts. Ninety young Persian-speaking monolingual and bilingual adults reported their language proficiency and use, with the early bilinguals indicating a balanced rating for their L1 and L2, and late bilinguals reporting slightly higher ratings for L1, relative to L2. Concerning the onset age of bilingualism, the bilinguals were classified as early and late bilinguals according to whether they initiated active regular use of the two languages before or after the age of eight. A nonverbal alternating-runs task switching paradigm was used to measure global switch cost (GSC) and local switch cost (LSC). The findings revealed a slight nonsignificant GSC but a significantly lower LSC for early bilinguals, compared to monolinguals, suggesting that bilingualism effects on task switching do not transpire uniformly across different contexts.
References
Abutalebi, J., Brambati, S., Annoni, J., Moro, A., Cappa, S., & Perani, D. (2007). The neural cost of the auditory perception of language switches: An event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study in bilinguals. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(50), 13762–13769. https://doi.org/10.1523%2FJNEUROSCI.3294-07.2007
Allport, D. A., Styles, E. A., & Hsieh, S. (1994). Shifting attentional set: Exploring the dynamic control of tasks. In C. Umitla, & M. Moscovitch (Eds.), Attention and performance XV: Conscious and unconscious information processing (pp. 421–452). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress%2F1478.003.0025
Arrington, C. M., & Logan, G. D. (2004). The cost of a voluntary task switch. Psychological Science, 15(9), 610–615. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00728.x
Barac, R., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Bilingual effects on cognitive and linguistic development: role of language, cultural background, and education. Child Development, 83, 413–422. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-8624.2011.01707.x
Barac, R., Bialystok, E., Castro, D., & Sanchez, M. (2014). The cognitive development of young dual language learners: A critical review. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29, 699–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.02.003
Beatty-Martínez, A. L., & Dussias, P. E. (2017). Bilingual experience shapes language processing: Evidence from codeswitching. Journal of Memory and Language, 95, 173–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2017.04.002
Beatty-Martínez, A. L., Navarro-Torres, C. A., Dussias, P. E., Bajo, M. T., Guzzardo Tamargo, R. E., & Kroll, J. F. (2020). Interactional context mediates the consequences of bilingualism for language and cognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46(6), 1022–1047. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000770
Beatty-Martínez, A. L., & Titone, D. A. (2021). The quest for signals in noise: Leveraging experiential variation to identify bilingual phenotypes. Languages, 6(4), 168.
Bialystok, E. (1999). Cognitive complexity and attentional control in the bilingual mind. Child Development, 70, 636–644. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00046
Bialystok, E. (2016). The signal and the noise. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 6(5), 517–534. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15040.bia
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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.009
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Ryan, J. (2006). Executive control in a modified antisaccade task: Effects of aging and bilingualism. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32, 1341–1354. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.32.6.1341
Braver, T., Reynolds, J., & Donaldson, D. (2003). Neural mechanisms of transient and sustained cognitive control during task switching. Neuron, 39, 713–726. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0896-6273(03)00466-5
Carlson, S., & Meltzoff, A. (2008). Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children. Developmental Science, 11(2), 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00675.x
Cepeda, N. J., Kramer, A. F., & Gonzalez de Sather, J. C. M. (2001). Changes in executive control across the life span: Examination of task switching performance. Developmental Psychology, 37, 715–730. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.37.5.715
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, 302–312. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.34.2.302
Comishen, K. J., Bialystok, E., & Adler, S. A. (2019). The impact of bilingual environments on selective attention in infancy. Developmental Science, 22(4), e12797. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12797
Costa, A., Hernández, M., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2008). Bilingualism aids conflict resolution: Evidence from the ANT task. Cognition, 106, 59–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2006.12.013
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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.001
de Bot, K. (2017). The future of the bilingual advantage. In S. E. Pfenninger, & J. Navracsics (Eds.), Future research directions for applied linguistics (pp. 15–32). Multilingual Matters.
DeLuca, V., Rothman, J., Bialystok, E., & Pliatsikas, C. (2019). Redefining bilingualism as a spectrum of experiences that differentially affects brain structure and function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116, 7565–7574. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811513116
DeKeyser, R. M. (2000). The robustness of critical period effects in second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 22(4), 499–533. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263100004022
Garbin, G., Sanjuan, A., Forn, C., Bustamante, J. C., Rodriquez Pugadas, A., Belloch, V., Hernandez, M., Costa, A., & Ávila, C. (2010). Bridging language and attention: Brain basis of the impact of bilingualism on cognitive control. NeuroImage, 53(4), 1272–1278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.05.078
Goffaux, P., Phillips, N. A., Sinai, M., & Pushkar, D. (2008). Neurophysiological measures of task-set switching: Effects of working memory and aging. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 63, 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/63.2.P57
Gold, B., Kim, C., Johnson, N., Kryscio, R., & Smith, C. (2013). Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(2), 387–396. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3837-12.2013
Green, D., & Abutalebi, J. (2013). Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25(5), 515–530. https://doi.org/10.1080%2F20445911.2013.796377
Green, D. W., & Wei, L. (2014). A control process model of code-switching. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 29(4), 499–511. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2014.882515
Gullifer, J. W., Chai, X. J., Whitford, V., Pivneva, I., Baum, S., Klein, D., & Titone, D. (2018). Bilingual experience and resting-state brain connectivity: Impacts of L2 age of acquisition and social diversity of language use on control networks. Neuropsychologia, 117, 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.04.037
Gullifer, J. W., Kousaie, S., Gilbert, A. C., Grant, A., Giroud, N., Coulter, K., Klein, D., Baum, S., Phillips, N., & Titone, D. (2021). Bilingual language experience as a multidimensional spectrum: Associations with objective and subjective language proficiency. Applied Psycholinguistics, 42(2), 245–278. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716420000521
Gullifer, J. W., & Titone, D. (2019). The impact of a momentary language switch on bilingual reading: Intense at the switch but merciful downstream for L2 but not L1 readers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(11), 2036–2050. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000695
Hartanto, A., & Yang, H. (2016). Disparate bilingual experiences modulate task switching advantages: A diffusion-model analysis of the effects of interactional context on switch costs. Cognition, 150, 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.01.016
Hernández, M., Martin, C. D., Barceló, F., & Costa, A. (2013). Where is the bilingual advantage in task switching? Journal of Memory and Language, 69, 257–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2013.06.004
Hervais-Adelman, A., Egorova, N., & Golestani, N. (2018). Beyond bilingualism: Multilingual experience correlates with caudate volume. Brain Structure and Function, 223(7), 3495–3502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-018-1695-0
Jersild, A. T. (1927). Mental set and shift. Archives of psychology (whole no. 89). Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49, 29–50.
Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21(1), 60–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0
Karimi, M. N., & Rad, Z. H. (2021). Bilingual advantage hypothesis: Testing the fit among L1-dominant child and adolescent bilinguals. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 60, 101017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2021.101017
Khodos, I., Moskovsky, C., & Paolini, S. (2020). Bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ performance on a nonverbal cognitive control task: How bilingual language experience contributes to cognitive performance by reducing mixing and switching costs. International Journal of Bilingualism, 25(1), 189–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006920946401
Koch, I., Prinz, W., & Allport, A. (2005). Involuntary retrieval in alphabet-arithmetic tasks: Task mixing and task switching costs. Psychological Research, 69(4), 252–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-004-0180-y
Kray, J., & Lindenberger, U. (2000). Adult age differences in task switching. Psychology and Aging, 15(1), 126–147. https://doi.org/10.1037//0882-7974.15.1.126
Lemire-Rodger, S., Lam, J., Viviano, J., Stevens, W., Spreng, R., & Turner, G. (2019). Inhibit, switch, and update: A within-subject fMRI investigation of executive control. Neuropsychologia, 132, 107134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107134
López Zunini, R., Morrison, C., Kousaie, S., & Taler, V. (2019). Task switching and bilingualism in young and older adults: A behavioral and electrophysiological investigation. Neuropsychologia, 133, 107186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107186
Luk, G., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Bilingualism is not a categorical variable: Interaction between language pro?ciency and usage. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25(5), 605–621. https://doi.org/10.1080%2F20445911.2013.795574
Luk, G., De Sa, E., & Bialystok, E. (2011). Is there a relation between onset age of bilingualism and enhancement of cognitive control? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14(4), 588–595. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728911000010
Mayr, U., & Kliegl, R. (2003). Differential effects of cue changes and task changes on task-set selection costs. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29(3), 362–372. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.29.3.362
Meiran, N. (1996). Reconfiguration of processing mode prior to task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22(6), 1423–1442. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.22.6.1423
Miyake, A., Friedman, N., Emerson, M., Witzki, A., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. (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. http://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
Monsell, S. (2003). Task switching. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(3), 134–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00028-7
Moradzadeh, L., Blumenthal, G., & Wiseheart, M. (2014). Musical training, bilingualism, and executive function: A closer look at task switching and dual-task performance. Cognitive Science, 39(5), 992–1020. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12183
Nichols, E., & Joanisse, M. (2016). Functional activity and white matter microstructure reveal the independent effects of age of acquisition and proficiency on second-language learning. NeuroImage, 143, 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.08.053
Ooi, S. H., Goh, W. D., Sorace, A., & Bak, T. H. (2018). From bilingualism to bilingualisms: Bilingual experience in Edinburgh and Singapore affects attentional control differently. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(4), 867–879. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918000020
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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002
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. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617711000580
Prior, A., & MacWhinney, B. (2010). A bilingual advantage in task switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(2), 253–262. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728909990526
Raven, J., Raven, J. C., & Court, J. H. (1998). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales. Harcourt Assessment.
Reimers, S., & Maylor, E. A. (2005). Task switching across the life span: Effects of age on general and specific switch costs. Developmental Psychology, 41(4), 661–671. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.41.4.661
Rogers, R., & Monsell, S. (1995). Costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124(2), 207–231. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.124.2.207
Rubin, O., & Meiran, N. (2005). On the origins of the task mixing cost in the cuing task switching paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 31(6), 1477–1491. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.31.6.1477
Sabourin, L., & Vinerte, S. (2019). Cognitive control among immersed bilinguals: Considering differences in linguistic and non-linguistic processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22(3), 590–605. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918000524
Stoet, G. (2010). PsyToolkit: A software package for programming psychological experiments using Linux. Behavior Research Methods, 42, 1096–1104. https://doi.org/10.3758/brm.42.4.1096
Stoet, G. (2017). PsyToolkit: A novel web-based method for running online questionnaires and reaction-time experiments. Teaching of Psychology, 44, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0098628316677643
Surrain, S., & Luk, G. (2019). Describing bilinguals: A systematic review of labels and descriptions used in the literature between 2005–2015. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22(2), 401–415. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000682
Sylvester, C., Wager, T., Lacey, S., Hernandez, L., Nichols, T., Smith, E., & Jonides, J. (2003). Switching attention and resolving interference: fMRI measures of executive functions. Neuropsychologia, 41(3), 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00167-7
Tao, L., Marzecová, A., Taft, M., Asanowicz, D., & Wodniecka, Z. (2011). The efficiency of attentional networks in early and late bilinguals: The role of age of acquisition. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 123. https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2011.00123
Wang, Y., Kuhl, P. K., Chen, C., & Dong, Q. (2009). Sustained and transient language control in the bilingual brain. NeuroImage, 47(1), 414–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.12.055
Wechsler, D. (1981). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale: Revised. Psychological Corporation.
Wiseheart, M., Viswanathan, M., & Bialystok, E. (2016). Flexibility in task switching by monolinguals and bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(1), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728914000273
Wylie, G. R., & Allport, A. (2000). Task switching and the measurement of ‘switch costs’. Psychological Research, 63(3), 212–233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004269900003
Wylie, G. R., Murray, M. M., Javitt, D. C., & Foxe, J. J. (2009). Distinct neurophysiological mechanisms mediate mixing costs and switch costs. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21(1), 105–118. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21009
Yang, H., Hartanto, A., & Yang, S. (2016). The importance of bilingual experience in assessing bilingual advantages in executive functions. Cortex, 75, 237–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.11.018
Yang, S., Yang, H., & Lust, B. (2011). Early childhood bilingualism leads to advances in executive attention: Dissociating culture and language. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14, 412–422. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728910000611
Yeatman, J., Ben-Shachar, M., Glover, G., & Feldman, H. (2010). Individual differences in auditory sentence comprehension in children: An exploratory event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation. Brain and Language, 114(2), 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2009.11.006
Ye, Y., Mo, L., & Wu, Q. (2016). Mixed cultural context brings out bilingual advantage on executive function. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20(4), 844–852. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000481
