Working memory demand of a task modulates bilingual advantage in executive functions

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Jiao ◽  
Cong Liu ◽  
Ruiming Wang ◽  
Baoguo Chen
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Interference Suppression ◽  
Memory Processing ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Processing Demand ◽  
Memory Experiment ◽  
Storage Demand

Aims: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of task demand in working memory on bilingual cognitive advantage (interference suppression and response inhibition) in young bilinguals. Methodology: Experiment 1 was performed with the flanker, Go/No-go, and modified flanker tasks, in which the first two tasks were involved in lower storage demand of working memory and the last task was involved in higher storage demand of working memory. Experiment 2 was performed with the Conditional-Go/No-go task, with a higher processing demand of working memory. Data and analysis: Reaction time and accuracy data were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance. Findings/Conclusions: In Experiment 1, results showed that compared to monolinguals, the bilingual advantage in interference suppression occurred in the task with high storage demand (i.e., modified flanker task) and not in the low demand task (i.e., flanker task); however, this advantage effect was not observed in response inhibition. In Experiment 2, with the increasing working memory processing demand of tasks, the bilingual advantage in response inhibition was observed. Originality: The current study firstly examined the effect of task working memory demand on the bilingual advantage and provided some restrictive conditions for the advantage. Significance/Implications: Our results provide new evidence to support the effect of bilingual cognitive advantage.

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

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 763-782 ◽  
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.

The development of two types of inhibitory control in monolingual and bilingual children

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHELLE M. MARTIN-RHEE ◽  
ELLEN BIALYSTOK
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Interference Suppression ◽  
Present Series ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Complex Tasks ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Competing Responses

Previous research has shown that bilingual children excel in tasks requiring inhibitory control to ignore a misleading perceptual cue. The present series of studies extends this finding by identifying the degree and type of inhibitory control for which bilingual children demonstrate this advantage. Study 1 replicated the earlier research by showing that bilingual children perform the Simon task more rapidly than monolinguals, but only on conditions in which the demands for inhibitory control were high. The next two studies compared performance on tasks that required inhibition of attention to a specific cue, like the Simon task, and inhibition of a habitual response, like the day–night Stroop task. In both studies, bilingual children maintained their advantage on tasks that require control of attention but showed no advantage on tasks that required inhibition of response. These results confine the bilingual advantage found previously to complex tasks requiring control over attention to competing cues (interference suppression) and not to tasks requiring control over competing responses (response inhibition).

Effects of third-language learning on inhibitory control with consideration of task complexity and language proficiency

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110545
Author(s):  
Dongmei Ma ◽  
Xinyue Wang ◽  
Xuefei Gao
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Interference Suppression ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Control Response

Aims and Objectives: The present study explores the question of whether learning a third language (L3) in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom setting induces improved inhibitory control compared with that found in bilinguals, considering task complexity and language proficiency. Methodology: Thirty-six Chinese–English second language (L2) young adult learners and 121 Chinese–English–Japanese/French/Russian/German L3 young adult learners with three levels of L3 proficiency participated in the study. Simon arrow tasks were employed to measure two types of inhibitory control: response inhibition (the less complex task with univalent stimuli) and interference suppression (the more complex task with bivalent stimuli). Data and Analysis: Statistics using ANOVAs and multiple comparisons were employed to analyze the effects of L3 learning on the reaction time and accuracy for response inhibition and interference suppression, respectively. Findings: The results demonstrated that L3 learners did not outperform L2 learners in the two types of inhibitory control: response inhibition (less complex) and interference suppression (more complex). Moreover, L3 learners with a higher proficiency did not display better inhibitory control than those with a lower proficiency in response inhibition and interference suppression. However, as the L3 proficiency increased, some specific aspects of inhibitory control did improve and exhibited a nonlinear pattern. Originality: The present study extends bilingual advantage in inhibitory control to formal L3 learning, exploring whether bilingual advantage in inhibitory control also appears in L3 learners, considering task complexity and language proficiency. Significance/implications: The present study contributes to the theory of the relationship between multilingualism and inhibitory control by showing that this relationship may be more complex than it is understood currently. Learning an additional language to L2, particularly short-term learning, may not lead to an incremental advantage in overall inhibitory control. However, as learning time increases, changes may appear in specific aspects of inhibitory control, and may be a nonlinear one.

Executive control in fluent and lapsed bilinguals

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARI ANNE BOGULSKI ◽  
MICHAEL RAKOCZY ◽  
MICHELLE GOODMAN ◽  
ELLEN BIALYSTOK
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Accurate Performance ◽  
High Level

Previous research showing a bilingual advantage on a variety of executive control tasks has typically compared monolinguals and fluent bilinguals. No study to date, however, has examined whether these effects endure for bilingual individuals who revert to monolingualism (‘lapsed bilinguals’). We investigated this question by testing monolinguals, full bilinguals, and lapsed bilinguals on a flanker task and a working memory task. Fully fluent bilinguals exhibited significantly more accurate performance than monolinguals on the working memory task, with lapsed bilinguals performing between the other two groups. Thus, continued bilingual experience appears necessary to maintain these cognitive advantages at a high level.

scholarly journals Towards a taxonomy of inhibition-related processes: A dual-task approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Bissett ◽  
Henry Morrow Jones ◽  
McKenzie Paige Hagen ◽  
Thanh Tung Bui ◽  
Jamie Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Shape Matching ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Stop Signal ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Discovery Sample ◽  
Stop Signal Reaction Time

The ability to inhibit responses is key to controlled behavior and is commonly investigated with the stop-signal paradigm. The authors investigated how response inhibition is situated within a taxonomy of control processes by combining multiple forms of control within novel dual tasks. Response inhibition, as measured by stop-signal reaction time (SSRT), was impaired when combined with shape matching, but not the flanker task, and when combined with cued task switching, but not predictable task switching, suggesting that response inhibition may be weakly or variably impaired when combined with selective attention and set switching demands, respectively. Response inhibition was consistently impaired when combined with the N-back or directed forgetting tasks, putative measures of working memory. Impairments of response inhibition by other control demands appeared to be driven by task context rather than evoked control demands, as SSRT slowing was similar for trials where control demands were either present (e.g., task switch) or absent (e.g., task stay). These results were initially identified in a discovery sample and subsequently validated in a pre-registered analysis of a held-out sample of subjects (N = 33 and 33, respectively). Taken together, these results show that response inhibition processes are often impaired in the context of other control demands, even on trials where direct engagement of those other control processes is not required. This suggests a taxonomy of control in which response inhibition overlaps with related control processes, especially working memory.

Basic numerical processing, calculation, and working memory in children with dyscalculia and/or ADHD symptoms

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg-Tobias Kuhn ◽  
Elena Ise ◽  
Julia Raddatz ◽  
Christin Schwenk ◽  
Christian Dobel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Cognitive Profiles ◽  
Adhd Symptoms ◽  
Memory Processing ◽  
Numerical Processing ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Neurocognitive Measures

Abstract. Objective: Deficits in basic numerical skills, calculation, and working memory have been found in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD) as well as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This paper investigates cognitive profiles of children with DD and/or ADHD symptoms (AS) in a double dissociation design to obtain a better understanding of the comorbidity of DD and ADHD. Method: Children with DD-only (N = 33), AS-only (N = 16), comorbid DD+AS (N = 20), and typically developing controls (TD, N = 40) were assessed on measures of basic numerical processing, calculation, working memory, processing speed, and neurocognitive measures of attention. Results: Children with DD (DD, DD+AS) showed deficits in all basic numerical skills, calculation, working memory, and sustained attention. Children with AS (AS, DD+AS) displayed more selective difficulties in dot enumeration, subtraction, verbal working memory, and processing speed. Also, they generally performed more poorly in neurocognitive measures of attention, especially alertness. Children with DD+AS mostly showed an additive combination of the deficits associated with DD-only and A_Sonly, except for subtraction tasks, in which they were less impaired than expected. Conclusions: DD and AS appear to be related to largely distinct patterns of cognitive deficits, which are present in combination in children with DD+AS.


A combined forced-attention dichotic listening – Go/Nogo task to assess response inhibition and interference suppression: An auditory event-related potential investigation.

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1136-1150
Author(s):  
Nathalie Bedoin ◽  
Raphaëlle Abadie ◽  
Jennifer Krzonowski ◽  
Emmanuel Ferragne ◽  
Agathe Marcastel
Keyword(s):  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Interference Suppression ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Auditory Event

scholarly journals Inhibitory Dimensions and Delay of Gratification: A Comparative Study on Individuals with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 636
Author(s):  
Martina Fontana ◽  
Maria Carmen Usai ◽  
Sandra Pellizzoni ◽  
Maria Chiara Passolunghi
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Interference Suppression ◽  
Delay Of Gratification ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Mental Age ◽  
Two Samples

While previous research on inhibition in people with Down syndrome (DS) reported contradictory results, with no explicit theoretical model, on the other hand, a more homogeneous impaired profile on the delay of gratification skills emerged. The main goal of the present study was to investigate response inhibition, interference suppression, and delay of gratification in 51 individuals with DS matched for a measure of mental age (MA) with 71 typically developing (TD) children. Moreover, we cross-sectionally explored the strengths and weaknesses of these components in children and adolescents vs. adults with DS with the same MA. A battery of laboratory tasks tapping on inhibitory sub-components and delay of gratification was administrated. Results indicated that individuals with DS showed an overall worse performance compared to TD children on response inhibition and delay of gratification, while no differences emerged between the two samples on the interference suppression. Additionally, our results suggested that older individuals with DS outperformed the younger ones both in response inhibition and in the delay of gratification, whereas the interference suppression still remains impaired in adulthood. This study highlights the importance of evaluating inhibitory sub-components considering both MA and chronological age in order to promote more effective and evidence-based training for this population.

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