A-172 Monolingual Advantage in Visual Task-Shifting in English-Speaking Individuals When Compared to English-and-Spanish-Speaking Bilingual Individuals
Abstract Objective Researchers reported that bilinguals have an advantage in visual task-shifting (VTS) and associated this advantage with executive functions (EF). We found self-reported monolinguals were faster than bilinguals when comparing switch (SW) and no-switch (NSW) incongruent trials on VTS, and that memory and age were significant predictors, not EF. Our aim is to repeat previous analyses with a sample of individuals matched on language fluency. Method Participants were 881 adults (Age: M = 31.64 ± 8.64; Men = 517; Monolingual = 646; Bilingual = 235; Education: M = 14.92 ± 2.05) from the Consortium for Neuropsychiatric Phenomics (UL1DE019580, PL1MH083271). Participants completed VTS, Memory, and EF tasks, including English Letter Fluency and, if bilingual, Spanish. Participants were dichotomized into the monolingual group if English letter fluency was at least low average, and the bilingual group if English/Spanish letter fluencies were at least low average. Results Response times (RTs) for short and long incongruent trials were computed in two-way ANCOVAs with Group (monolingual, bilingual) as between-participant and Trial Type (SW, NSW) as within-participant factors, and Age and Education as covariates. Short trials revealed main effects of Group (p = .034), as monolinguals achieved faster RTs than bilinguals, and main effects of Trial Type (p < .001), as RTs for NSW was faster than SW. Long trials were nonsignificant (p > .05). Hierarchical stepwise regressions revealed EF (p = .032) and Age (p = .004) significantly predicted Primary and Residual VTS performance. Conclusions Our results are inconsistent with literature. We found English monolinguals were faster than English/Spanish bilinguals when controlled for Age and Education. Further, the neuropsychological correlates revealed Age and EF are important predictors of VTS that should be further examined.