Lingering Inhibition During Language Switching: Specifying the Dynamics of Bilingual Inhibitory Control

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared A. Linck ◽  
Alison Shell ◽  
L. Robert Slevc
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Switching

Inhibitory control predicts language switching performance in trilingual speech production

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
JARED A. LINCK ◽  
JOHN W. SCHWIETER ◽  
GRETCHEN SUNDERMAN
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Control Mechanism ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Switching Performance ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Switching Task ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigated the role of domain-general inhibitory control in trilingual speech production. Taking an individual differences approach, we examined the relationship between performance on a non-linguistic measure of inhibitory control (the Simon task) and a multilingual language switching task for a group of fifty-six native English (L1) speakers learning French (L2) and Spanish (L3). Better inhibitory control was related to reduced switch costs, but only when switching into or out of the more dominant L1, where inhibitory control has been theorized to be most important (Green, 1998). The results provide evidence of a direct link between inhibitory control abilities and language switching capabilities, and suggest constraints on the conditions under which a domain-general inhibitory control mechanism supports language switching.

scholarly journals Dynamics of inhibitory control during bilingual speech production: An electrophysiological study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaochen Zheng ◽  
Ardi Roelofs ◽  
Hasan Erkan ◽  
Kristin Lemhöfer
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Switching Task

AbstractBilingual speakers have to control their languages to avoid interference, which may be achieved by enhancing the target language and/or inhibiting the nontarget language. Previous research has provided evidence that bilinguals may use inhibition (e.g., Jackson, Swainson, Cunnington, & Jackson, 2001), which is reflected in the N2 component of the event-related potential (ERP). In the current study, we investigated the dynamics of inhibitory control by measuring the N2 during language switching and repetition in picture naming. We recorded the EEG of 30 unbalanced Dutch-English bilinguals in a cued language-switching task. Participants had to name pictures in Dutch or English depending on the cue. A run of same-language trials could be short (two or three trials) or long (five or six trials). We assessed whether RTs and N2 changed over the course of same-language runs, and at a switch between languages. Results showed that speakers named pictures more quickly late as compared to early in a run of same-language trials. Moreover, they made a language switch more quickly after a long run than after a short run. In ERPs, we observed a widely distributed switch effect in the N2, which was larger after a short run than after a long run. The N2 was not modulated during a same-language run, challenging Kleinman and Gollan (2018), who maintained that inhibition accumulates over time. Our results suggests that speakers adjust the level of inhibitory control at a language switch, but not when repeatedly naming in the same language.

The effect of inhibitory control and its training on L1 and a new learned language switching

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 653-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huanhuan Liu ◽  
Susan Dunlap ◽  
Lijuan Liang ◽  
Baoguo Chen
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Late Positive Component ◽  
Switch Costs

Aims: This study aimed to investigate how individuals’ inhibitory control (IC) ability affects language switching in the initial period of language learning. Design: Using a pretest/posttest design and event-related potential (ERP) methodology, we investigated the effect of IC on Chinese–English bilinguals during their language switching between Chinese (L1) and Korean (a language new to the participants, Lnew). All participants were required to name pictures (picture-naming task) in their L1 and Lnew in the pretest and posttest. Low-IC participants received an IC task training between the pretest and the posttest, while the high-IC group did not. Data and analysis: Analyses of both response latencies and ERP data were conducted by repeated-measures ANOVA. Findings: Results showed that the high-IC group exhibited symmetrical switch costs in both the pretest and the posttest. Besides, a more obvious late positive component (LPC) was observed when the high-IC participants switched from L1 to Lnew than the other way around, indicating their ability to inhibit cross-language interference. In contrast, the low-IC group exhibited asymmetrical switch costs, and no amplitude difference when switching between Lnew and L1 in the pretest. However, in the posttest, the switch costs pattern and the LPC results of the low-IC group became similar to those of the high-IC group. Innovation: The present study was a first attempt to provide electrophysiological evidence that IC ability plays an important role during L1–Lnew switching. Significance: These findings support the hypothesis that individuals’ IC ability plays a role of suppressing the non-target lexical access during language switching in the initial period of second language learning. The results also indicate that the relevant training in IC ability could contribute to the improvement of the language-switching efficiency in the initial period of language learning.

Inhibitory control predicts quasi language switching performance: evidence from face-to-face dialogue

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 695-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huanhuan Liu ◽  
Susan Dunlap ◽  
Michael Shengtao Wu ◽  
Lijuan Liang ◽  
Yao Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Switching Performance

scholarly journals Inhibitory control training reveals a common neurofunctional basis for generic executive functions and language switching in bilinguals

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Jing Wu ◽  
Mo Chen ◽  
Guillaume Thierry ◽  
Yongben Fu ◽  
Junjie Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Transfer Effect ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Lexical Selection ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Left Caudate ◽  
Language Control ◽  
Switching Task

Abstract Background The neural networks underpinning language control and domain-general executive functions overlap in bilinguals, but existing evidence is mainly correlative. Here, we present the first neurofunctional evidence for a transfer effect between (domain-general) inhibitory control and language control through training. We trained Chinese–English bilinguals for 8 days using a Simon task taxing the inhibitory control system, whilst an active control group was trained with a color judgment task that does not tax the inhibitory control system. All participants performed a language-switching task before and after training. It has been suggested that the activity of the left DLPFC was associated with domain-general top-down cognitive control (Macdonald et al. Science 288: 1835–1838, 2000) and bilingual language control (Wang et al. Neuroimage 35: 862–870, 2007). In addition, the dACC was closely related to the conflict detection (Abutalebi et al. Cereb Cortex 18:1496–1505, 2008). Last, the activity of the left caudate has been linked with lexical selection (Abutalebi et al. Cereb Cortex 18:1496–1505, 2008), especially the selection of the weak language (Abutalebi et al. Cortex 49: 905–911, 2013). Therefore, we focused on these three regions of interest (ROIs) where neural changes associated with transfer were expected to occur. Results The results showed a negative correlation between changes in activation levels in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and changes in the switch cost magnitude in the language-switching task in the training group but not in the control group, suggesting that the DLPFC plays a critical role in the transfer effect from domain-general executive functions to language control. However, there was no measurable effect in the anterior cingulate cortex or left caudate nucleus, suggesting that the inhibitory control training increased the neural efficiency for language production in bilinguals in terms of attention shifting and conflict resolution, but the training did not affect conflict detection and lexical selection. Conclusion These findings showed how cognitive training evidence can help establish a causational link between the neural basis of domain-general executive functions and language control in bilinguals.

scholarly journals Training in Language Switching Facilitates Bilinguals’ Monitoring and Inhibitory Control

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Liu ◽  
Chin-Lung Yang ◽  
Lu Jiao ◽  
John W. Schwieter ◽  
Xun Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Switching

scholarly journals The Differential Role of Executive Functions in the Cognitive Control of Language Switching

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Jared A. Linck ◽  
John W. Schwieter ◽  
Gretchen Sunderman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Language Control ◽  
Global And Local

Studies of bilingual speech production suggest that different executive functions (EFs) contribute to the cognitive control of language production. However, no study has simultaneously examined the relationship between different EFs and language control during online speech production. The current study examined individual differences in three EFs (working memory updating, inhibitory control, and task-set switching) and their relationship with performance in a trilingual language-switching task for a group of forty-seven native English (L1) speakers learning French (L2) and Spanish (L3). Analyses indicate complex interactions between EFs and language switching: better inhibitory control was related to smaller L1 switch costs, whereas better working memory was related to larger L1 switch costs. Working memory was also related to larger L2 switch costs, but only when switching from L1. These results support theories of cognitive control that implicate both global and local control mechanisms, and suggest unique contributions of each EF to both global and local cognitive control during language switching. Finally, we discuss the implications for theories of multilingual language control.

scholarly journals Whole-Language and Item-Specific Inhibition in Bilingual Language Switching: The Role of Domain–General Inhibitory Control

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 517
Author(s):  
Judy D. Zhu ◽  
Paul F. Sowman
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Whole Language ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Specific Inhibition ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Language Selection ◽  
Language Control

A prominent theory of bilingual speech production holds that appropriate language selection is achieved via inhibitory control. Such inhibition may operate on the whole-language and/or item-specific level. In this study, we examined these two levels of control in parallel, by introducing a novel element into the traditional cued language switching paradigm: half of the stimuli were univalent (each required naming in the same language every time it appeared), and the other half were bivalent (each required naming in different languages on different trials). Contrasting switch and stay trials provided an index for whole-language inhibition, while contrasting bivalent and univalent stimuli provided an index for item-specific inhibition. We then investigated the involvement of domain-general brain mechanisms in these two levels of language control. Neuroimaging studies report activation of the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), a key region in the executive control brain network, during language switching tasks. However, it is unclear whether or not the pre-SMA plays a causal role in language control, and at which level it exerts control. Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to transiently disrupt the pre-SMA, we observed an essential role of this brain region in general speech execution, while evidence for its specific involvement in each level of inhibition remains inconclusive.

scholarly journals Symmetries of bilingual language switch costs in conflicting versus non-conflicting contexts

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 624-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
CONG LIU ◽  
LU JIAO ◽  
ZIYI WANG ◽  
MENGXING WANG ◽  
RUIMING WANG ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Control Model ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Stroop Paradigm ◽  
Language Control ◽  
Switching Task ◽  
The Impact

Previous studies have demonstrated that language switching in bilinguals can be affected by a number of variables, including the processing context. Here, we used a modified language-switching task combined with a Stroop paradigm, which manipulated the context of the task, to examine the impact of processing context on switch costs. The results of both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 showed that the switch costs and the level of asymmetry in the switch costs are larger in the conflicting context than in the non-conflicting context, suggesting that the processing context affects the switch costs. In addition, the results of Experiment 2 revealed that individual variances in cognitive control capacity also play a role in the overall magnitude of the switch costs. Critically, processing context effects can be modulated by individual variance in cognitive control capacities. The results of this study are discussed within the framework of classic models of bilingual language control (e.g., the inhibitory control model).

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