Research on individual differences in executive functions

Abstract Executive functions (EFs), such as response inhibition, interference control, and set shifting, are general-purpose control mechanisms that enable individuals to regulate their thoughts and behaviors. Because bilingual individuals use EF-like processes during language control, researchers have become interested in the hypothesis that this use might train EFs, resulting in better performance on non-linguistic EF tasks. Although this bilingual advantage hypothesis seems straightforward to test, it involves a number of important decisions in terms of how to assess bilingualism and EFs. In this article, I focus on the complexity of measuring EFs, drawing on individual differences research (conducted with participants not selected for bilingualism). Specifically, I discuss issues related to (1) the measurement of EFs (particularly the effects of task impurity and unreliability) and (2) the multicomponent nature of EFs. Within each of these topics, I elaborate on consequences for research on bilingual advantages and provide some recommendations.

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Clear theories are needed to interpret differences: Perspectives on the bilingual advantage debate

Neurobiology of Language ◽

10.1162/nol_a_00038 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-46

Author(s):

Angela de Bruin ◽

Anthony Steven Dick ◽

Manuel Carreiras

Keyword(s):

Executive Functions ◽

Brain Plasticity ◽

Cognitive Effects ◽

Theoretical Frameworks ◽

Bilingual Advantage ◽

Heated Debate ◽

Brain Changes ◽

Language Control ◽

Meta Analyses

Abstract The heated debate regarding bilingual cognitive advantages remains ongoing. While there are many studies supporting positive cognitive effects of bilingualism, recent meta-analyses have concluded that there is no consistent evidence for a ’bilingual advantage’. In this paper we focus on several theoretical concerns. First, we discuss changes in theoretical frameworks, which have led to the development of insufficiently clear theories and hypotheses that are difficult to falsify. Next, we discuss the development of looking at bilingual experiences and the need to better understand language control. Last, we argue that the move from behavioural studies to a focus on brain plasticity is not going to solve the debate on cognitive effects, especially not when brain changes are interpreted in the absence of behavioural differences. Clearer theories on both behavioural and neural effects of bilingualism are needed. However, to achieve this, a solid understanding of both bilingualism and executive functions is needed first.

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Novel-word learning, executive control and working memory: A bilingual advantage

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s136672891800041x ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (04) ◽

pp. 763-782 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

MEESHA A. WARMINGTON ◽

SWATHI KANDRU-POTHINENI ◽

GRAHAM J. HITCH

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Word Learning ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Executive Control ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Bilingual Advantage ◽

Independent Replication ◽

Novel Word Learning ◽

Almost All

Studies of the effects of bilingualism on cognition have given results that do not consistently replicate, reflecting at least in part wide differences in criteria for bilingualism and heterogeneity of language combinations within studied samples. We examined the bilingual advantage in attention, working memory and novel-word learning in early sequential Hindi–English bilinguals. We sought to clarify the aspects of cognition that benefit from bilingualism by using multiple measures and a sample sufficiently well-defined to permit independent replication. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on response inhibition, novel-word learning and almost all working memory tasks. In contrast, both groups performed comparably on selective attention. Analyses of individual differences showed that bilingual novel-word learning was related to their verbal working memory and ability to inhibit an ongoing action, whereas this was not the case for monolinguals. Results indicate a specific bilingual advantage that is confined to some but not all aspects of cognition.

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Association of Sleep Quality on Memory-Related Executive Functions in Middle Age

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617717000637 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 67-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Brinda K. Rana ◽

Matthew S. Panizzon ◽

Carol E. Franz ◽

Kelly M. Spoon ◽

Kristen C. Jacobson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Executive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Later Life ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Interference Control ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Increased Risk

AbstractObjectives: Sleep quality affects memory and executive function in older adults, but little is known about its effects in midlife. If it affects cognition in midlife, it may be a modifiable factor for later-life functioning. Methods: We examined the association between sleep quality and cognition in 1220 middle-aged male twins (age 51–60 years) from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging. We interviewed participants with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and tested them for episodic memory as well as executive functions of inhibitory and interference control, updating in working memory, and set shifting. Interference control was assessed during episodic memory, inhibitory control during working memory, and non-memory conditions and set shifting during working memory and non-memory conditions. Results: After adjusting for covariates and correcting for multiple comparisons, sleep quality was positively associated with updating in working memory, set shifting in the context of working memory, and better visual-spatial (but not verbal) episodic memory, and at trend level, with interference control in the context of episodic memory. Conclusions: Sleep quality was associated with visual-spatial recall and possible resistance to proactive/retroactive interference. It was also associated with updating in working memory and with set shifting, but only when working memory demands were relatively high. Thus, effects of sleep quality on midlife cognition appear to be at the intersection of executive function and memory processes. Subtle deficits in these age-susceptible cognitive functions may indicate increased risk for decline in cognitive abilities later in life that might be reduced by improved midlife sleep quality. (JINS, 2018, 24, 67–76)

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The contributions of language control to executive functions: From the perspective of bilingual comprehension

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021818821601 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 72 (8) ◽

pp. 1984-1997 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lu Jiao ◽

Cong Liu ◽

Lijuan Liang ◽

Patrick Plummer ◽

Charles A Perfetti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Listening Comprehension ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Mixed Block ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Language Control ◽

Language Context ◽

L1 And L2

Previous studies have suggested that bilingual production experience has beneficial effects on executive functions. In the current study, four experiments were conducted to investigate whether bilingual comprehension experience influences executive functions. In Experiments 1 and 2, Chinese–English bilinguals completed a flanker task interleaved with a language comprehension task (reading comprehension in Experiment 1 and listening comprehension in Experiment 2). There were three blocks distinguished by language context, with a Chinese (L1) block, an English (L2) block, and a mixed (L1 and L2) block. Results showed that performance in the mixed block was better on both congruent and incongruent flanker trials when compared with the L1 and L2 blocks, indicating better monitoring functions overall. In Experiments 3 and 4 (reading comprehension and listening comprehension, respectively), participants were also exposed to three language contexts (i.e., L1, L2, and mixed block) but performed a non-conflict control task that did not require any conflict resolution. The results of Experiments 3 and 4 showed similar performance under the three different language contexts. Taken together, these results indicate that language control mechanisms involved in bilingual comprehension contribute to domain-general executive control performance. The results suggest a monitoring mechanism establishes a bridge connecting executive functions and bilingual language control during comprehension.

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Bilingual Language Control and General Purpose Cognitive Control among Individuals with Bilingual Aphasia: Evidence Based on Negative Priming and Flanker Tasks

Behavioural Neurology ◽

10.1155/2014/679706 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Tanya Dash ◽

Bhoomika R. Kar

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Negative Priming ◽

Flanker Task ◽

General Purpose ◽

Interactive Systems ◽

Cumulative Distribution ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Reactive Control ◽

Language Control ◽

Bilingual Aphasia

Background. Bilingualism results in an added advantage with respect to cognitive control. The interaction between bilingual language control and general purpose cognitive control systems can also be understood by studying executive control among individuals with bilingual aphasia.Objectives. The current study examined the subcomponents of cognitive control in bilingual aphasia. A case study approach was used to investigate whether cognitive control and language control are two separate systems and how factors related to bilingualism interact with control processes.Methods. Four individuals with bilingual aphasia performed a language background questionnaire, picture description task, and two experimental tasks (nonlinguistic negative priming task and linguistic and nonlinguistic versions of flanker task).Results. A descriptive approach was used to analyse the data using reaction time and accuracy measures. The cumulative distribution function plots were used to visualize the variations in performance across conditions. The results highlight the distinction between general purpose cognitive control and bilingual language control mechanisms.Conclusion. All participants showed predominant use of the reactive control mechanism to compensate for the limited resources system. Independent yet interactive systems for bilingual language control and general purpose cognitive control were postulated based on the experimental data derived from individuals with bilingual aphasia.

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Do bilinguals outperform monolinguals in switching tasks? Contrary evidence for nonlinguistic and linguistic switching tasks

Neurobiology of Language ◽

10.1162/nol_a_00059 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-37

Author(s):

E. Mas-Herrero ◽

D. Adrover-Roig ◽

M. Ruz ◽

R. de Diego-Balaguer

Keyword(s):

Executive Functions ◽

Task Switching ◽

The Other ◽

Bilingual Advantage ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Task Preparation ◽

Language Control ◽

The One ◽

Switching Task ◽

Contrary Evidence

Abstract The benefits of bilingualism in executive functions are highly debated. Even so, in switching tasks, these effects seem robust, although smaller than initially thought (Gunnerud et al., 2020; Ware et al., 2020). By handling two languages throughout their lifespan, bilinguals appear to train their executive functions and show benefits in nonlinguistic switching tasks compared to monolinguals. Nevertheless, because bilinguals need to control for the interference of another language, they may show a disadvantage when dealing with task-switching paradigms requiring language control, particularly when those are performed in their less dominant language. The present work explored this issue by studying bilingualism’s effects on task-switching within the visual and language domains. On the one hand, our results show that bilinguals were overall faster and presented reduced switch costs compared to monolinguals when performing perceptual geometric judgments with no time for task preparation. On the other hand, no bilingual advantage was found when a new sample of comparable bilinguals and monolinguals completed a within-language switching task. Our results provide clear evidence favoring the bilingual advantage, yet only when the task imposes greater executive demands and does not involve language control.

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Cognitive Performance in Non-Psychotic Non-Suicidal Unipolar Depressed Patients

The Psychologist: Practice & Research Journal ◽

10.33525/pprj.v1i1.18 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 93

Author(s):

Marco Moniz

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Cognitive Rehabilitation ◽

Unipolar Depression ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Depressed Patients ◽

Neuropsychological Profile ◽

Planning Decision

Background: Cognitive impairment is central in depression and executive dysfunctions in patients with depression are frequent. However, little attention has been paid to the specificities of executive changes in patients with unipolar depression, though these modifications may have serious implications for psychosocial functions and treatment of these patients.Goals: To compare neuropsychological performance, regarding executive functions, of two adult groups: non-psychotic non-suicide attempters with unipolar depression and healthy individuals.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with data collected in an outpatient clinic of mental health service of a general hospital. Wecompared a group of non-psychotic non-suicidal unipolar depressed patients to a group of individuals without depression. Depressed subjects were controlled for prior suicidal attempts, and their neuropsychological profile was assessed using a range of measures of attention, verbal fluency, memory, psychomotor speed, and executive functioning (planning, decision making, set shifting, response inhibition, and inhibitory control).Results: The group with depression (n=23) was significantly outperformed by the group of healthy individuals (n=23) in all measures. Also, differences in the executive functions of planning, decision making, set shifting, and inhibitory control were confirmed. We were unable to identify differences between non-suicidal individuals with depression and individuals without depression in terms of response inhibition, as has been the case in previous studies with samples with suicidal unipolar depressive patients.Discussion: These results reinforce the hypothesis that there are specific alterations in patients with depression and highlight the need to develop specific cognitive rehabilitation programs for this population.

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Differences in executive functioning between violent and non-violent offenders

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291717000241 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 47 (10) ◽

pp. 1784-1793 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

J. Meijers ◽

J. M. Harte ◽

G. Meynen ◽

P. Cuijpers

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Partial Correlation ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Violent Offenders ◽

Test Battery ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Neuropsychological Test Battery

BackgroundA growing body of neuropsychological and neurobiological research shows a relationship between functioning of the prefrontal cortex and criminal and violent behaviour. The prefrontal cortex is crucial for executive functions such as inhibition, attention, working memory, set-shifting and planning. A deficit in these functions – a prefrontal deficit – may result in antisocial, impulsive or even aggressive behaviour. While several meta-analyses show large effect sizes for the relationship between a prefrontal deficit, executive dysfunction and criminality, there are few studies investigating differences in executive functions between violent and non-violent offenders. Considering the relevance of identifying risk factors for violent offending, the current study explores whether a distinction between violent and non-violent offenders can be made using an extensive neuropsychological test battery.MethodMale remand prisoners (N = 130) in Penitentiary Institution Amsterdam Over-Amstel were administered an extensive neuropsychological test battery (Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery; CANTAB) measuring response inhibition, planning, attention, set-shifting, working memory and impulsivity/reward sensitivity.ResultsViolent offenders performed significantly worse on the stop-signal task (partial correlation r = 0.205, p = 0.024), a task measuring response inhibition. No further differences were found between violent and non-violent offenders. Explorative analyses revealed a significant relationship between recidivism and planning (partial correlation r = −0.209, p = 0.016).ConclusionViolent offenders show worse response inhibition compared to non-violent offenders, suggesting a more pronounced prefrontal deficit in violent offenders than in non-violent offenders.

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A path to the bilingual advantage: Pairwise matching of individuals

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728919000166 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 344-354 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sophia Czapka ◽

Christiane Wotschack ◽

Annegret Klassert ◽

Julia Festman

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Homogeneous Groups ◽

Heterogeneous Sample ◽

Bilingual Advantage ◽

Executive Processing

AbstractMatching participants (as suggested by Hope, 2015) may be one promising option for research on a potential bilingual advantage in executive functions (EF). In this study we first compared performances in three EF-tasks of a naturally heterogeneous sample of monolingual (n = 69, age = 9.0 y) and multilingual children (n = 57, age = 9.3 y). Secondly, we meticulously matched participants pairwise to obtain two highly homogeneous groups to rerun our analysis and investigate a potential bilingual advantage. The initally disadvantaged multilinguals (regarding socioeconomic status and German lexicon size) performed worse in updating and response inhibition, but similarly in interference inhibition. This indicates that superior EF compensate for the detrimental effects of the background variables. After matching children pairwise on age, gender, intelligence, socioeconomic status and German lexicon size, performances became similar except for interference inhibition. Here, an advantage for multilinguals in the form of globally reduced reaction times emerged, indicating a bilingual executive processing advantage.

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Unity and diversity of executive functions in creativity

10.31234/osf.io/knb6a ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Darya Zabelina ◽

Naomi P. Friedman ◽

Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna

Keyword(s):

Information Technology ◽

Working Memory ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Real World ◽

Divergent Thinking ◽

Real Life ◽

Operational Definition ◽

General Purpose ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Working Memory Updating

Increasing evidence suggests that executive functions (EFs) – a set of general-purpose control processes that regulate thoughts and behaviors – are relevant for creativity. However, EF is not a unitary process, and it remains unclear which specific EFs are involved. The present study examined the association between the three EFs, both uniquely (EF-Specific) and together (Common EF), and three measures of creativity. Participants (N = 47) completed a divergent thinking test, and self-reported their real-life creative accomplishments. A subset of participants indicated their involvement in the artistic or information technology (IT) professions. Results indicated that fluency (but not originality) of divergent thinking was uniquely predicted by working memory Updating. Better response Inhibition predicted higher number of real-world artistic creative achievements. Involvement in the artistic (versus IT) professions was associated with better Common EF, and with enhanced mental set Shifting abilities. Results demonstrate that different EFs predict creativity depending on its operational definition.

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