Modulatory Effects of Language Context on Executive Functioning in Multilinguals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kam Kitt Choo ◽  
Wong Hoo Keat ◽  
Jessica Price
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Mixed Language ◽  
Practical Guidelines ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Control Hypothesis ◽  
Language Context ◽  
The Relationship

The advantages of bilingualism on executive functioning have received intense attention over the past decade with recent research patterns converging on multilingualism rather than just bilingualism. However, whether an advantage exists is far from conclusive, with convincing evidence on both sides of the debate. The present study investigated whether multilingual experience predicts better executive functioning (EF), and if language contexts modulate the relationship. 77 English-Mandarin simultaneous multilinguals completed a modified flanker task which varied according to language context (Neutral, Single-language or mixed-language contexts). Participants were instructed to ignore the task-irrelevant words during the single context blocks (English or Mandarin only) and mixed-language block (English & Mandarin). The first key finding is that multilingual experience predicted better performance but only in the mixed-language block. Second, language context moderates the strength of the relationship between multilingualism and flanker task performance. These findings provide direct evidence for the Adaptive Control Hypothesis. Furthermore, the present study demonstrated the use of a novel measure of multilingualism – the Multilingual Language Diversity score – as a significant predictor of enhanced EF in different language contexts. We end this paper by discussing practical guidelines for research moving forward.

scholarly journals Predictions about the Cognitive Consequences of Language Switching on Executive Functioning Inspired by the Adaptive Control Hypothesis Fail More Often than Not

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1217
Author(s):  
Kenneth R. Paap ◽  
Lauren Mason ◽  
Regina Anders-Jefferson
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Control ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Interactional Context ◽  
Dense Code ◽  
Control Hypothesis ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Influential Theory

The adaptive control hypothesis developed by Green and Abutalebi is the most influential theory of bilingual language control. The focus of this article is on the predictions that other researchers have derived based on the three different modes of interactional context described by the hypothesis. Foremost, that dual-language contexts should enhance domain-general executive functions more than single-language contexts. Several recent and ambitious behavioral tests of these predictions are reviewed. Although there was some evidence that dual-language contexts are associated with smaller switch costs, the evidence is inconsistent and there were no similar advantages for inhibitory control. The hypothesis also predicts neuroanatomical adaptations to the three types of interactional context. A careful evaluation of the relevant fMRI and ERP studies that take into account whether behavioral differences align with neuroscience differences and resolves valence ambiguities led to the conclusion that the neuroscience evidence for the hypothesis is, at best, inconsistent. The study also includes new analyses of two large-sample studies that enable the identification of relatively pure cases of single-language bilinguals, dual-language bilinguals, and dense-code switchers. Across nine different measures of executive functioning, the predicted advantage of the dual-language context never materialized. The hypotheses derived from the adaptive control hypothesis do not accurately predict behavioral performance on tests of executive functioning and do not advance our understanding as to what dimensions of bilingualism may lead to enhancements in specific components of executive functioning.

The relationship of the scleractinian corals to the rugose corals

Paleobiology ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 6 (02) ◽  
pp. 146-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Critical Points ◽  
Scleractinian Corals ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Early Triassic ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Biologic Factors

The Mesozoic-Cenozoic coral Order Scleractinia has been suggested to have originated or evolved (1) by direct descent from the Paleozoic Order Rugosa or (2) by the development of a skeleton in members of one of the anemone groups that probably have existed throughout Phanerozoic time. In spite of much work on the subject, advocates of the direct descent hypothesis have failed to find convincing evidence of this relationship. Critical points are:(1) Rugosan septal insertion is serial; Scleractinian insertion is cyclic; no intermediate stages have been demonstrated. Apparent intermediates are Scleractinia having bilateral cyclic insertion or teratological Rugosa.(2) There is convincing evidence that the skeletons of many Rugosa were calcitic and none are known to be or to have been aragonitic. In contrast, the skeletons of all living Scleractinia are aragonitic and there is evidence that fossil Scleractinia were aragonitic also. The mineralogic difference is almost certainly due to intrinsic biologic factors.(3) No early Triassic corals of either group are known. This fact is not compelling (by itself) but is important in connection with points 1 and 2, because, given direct descent, both changes took place during this only stage in the history of the two groups in which there are no known corals.

scholarly journals Endolysosomal Cation Channels and MITF in Melanocytes and Melanoma

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1021
Author(s):  
Carla Abrahamian ◽  
Christian Grimm
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Signaling Cascades ◽  
Cation Channels ◽  
Pore Channel ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Canonical Wnt ◽  
The Relationship

Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is the principal transcription factor regulating pivotal processes in melanoma cell development, growth, survival, proliferation, differentiation and invasion. In recent years, convincing evidence has been provided attesting key roles of endolysosomal cation channels, specifically TPCs and TRPMLs, in cancer, including breast cancer, glioblastoma, bladder cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and melanoma. In this review, we provide a gene expression profile of these channels in different types of cancers and decipher their roles, in particular the roles of two-pore channel 2 (TPC2) and TRPML1 in melanocytes and melanoma. We specifically discuss the signaling cascades regulating MITF and the relationship between endolysosomal cation channels, MAPK, canonical Wnt/GSK3 pathways and MITF.

scholarly journals Characterizing Bilingual Effects on Cognition: The Search for Meaningful Individual Differences

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Kristina C. Backer ◽  
Heather Bortfeld
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
The Past ◽  
General Movement ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Analytical Approaches ◽  
The Relationship

A debate over the past decade has focused on the so-called bilingual advantage—the idea that bilingual and multilingual individuals have enhanced domain-general executive functions, relative to monolinguals, due to competition-induced monitoring of both processing and representation from the task-irrelevant language(s). In this commentary, we consider a recent study by Pot, Keijzer, and de Bot (2018), which focused on the relationship between individual differences in language usage and performance on an executive function task among multilingual older adults. We discuss their approach and findings in light of a more general movement towards embracing complexity in this domain of research, including individuals’ sociocultural context and position in the lifespan. The field increasingly considers interactions between bilingualism/multilingualism and cognition, employing measures of language use well beyond the early dichotomous perspectives on language background. Moreover, new measures of bilingualism and analytical approaches are helping researchers interrogate the complexities of specific processing issues. Indeed, our review of the bilingualism/multilingualism literature confirms the increased appreciation researchers have for the range of factors—beyond whether someone speaks one, two, or more languages—that impact specific cognitive processes. Here, we highlight some of the most salient of these, and incorporate suggestions for a way forward that likewise encompasses neural perspectives on the topic.

scholarly journals ¡Hola! Nice to Meet You: Language Mixing and Biographical Information Processing

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 703
Author(s):  
Eneko Antón ◽  
Jon Andoni Duñabeitia
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Initial Exposure ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Mixed Language ◽  
Educational Implications ◽  
Social Encounters ◽  
Bilingual Communities ◽  
Language Context

In bilingual communities, social interactions take place in both single- and mixed-language contexts. Some of the information shared in multilingual conversations, such as interlocutors’ personal information, is often required in consequent social encounters. In this study, we explored whether the autobiographical information provided in a single-language context is better remembered than in an equivalent mixed-language situation. More than 400 Basque-Spanish bilingual (pre) teenagers were presented with new persons who introduced themselves by either using only Spanish or only Basque, or by inter-sententially mixing both languages. Different memory measures were collected immediately after the initial exposure to the new pieces of information (immediate recall and recognition) and on the day after (delayed recall and recognition). In none of the time points was the information provided in a mixed-language fashion worse remembered than that provided in a strict one-language context. Interestingly, the variability across participants in their sociodemographic and linguistic variables had a negligible impact on the effects. These results are discussed considering their social and educational implications for bilingual communities.

Tracking Cognitive Decline with a Serious Game: Benchmarking Against the Mini-Mental State Examination

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-10
Author(s):  
Tiffany Tong ◽  
Jacqueline Urakami ◽  
Mark Chignell ◽  
Mary C. Tierney ◽  
Jacques S. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Mental State ◽  
Cognitive Assessment ◽  
Mini Mental State Examination ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Cognitive Speed ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Game Performance ◽  
State Examination

We are developing whack-a-mole games for cognitive assessment. In prior research, we have shown that variants of the game assess cognitive speed and executive functioning (response inhibition), and can be used to screen for delirium in emergency departments. We have also found that whack-a-mole game performance is significantly correlated with overall Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. In this paper, we report the results of a study that assessed the relationship of our serious game for cognitive assessment with specific components of the MMSE. We found that game performance is correlated most strongly with the orientation to time items component of MMSE and that the combination of three elements of the MMSE (attention and calculation; orientation to time; repetition) accounted for almost half of the variance in game performance in our sample.

scholarly journals Reproductive Strategy and Sexual Conflict Slow Life History Strategy Inihibts Negative Androcentrism

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Gladden ◽  
Aurelio José Figueredo ◽  
D. J. Andrejzak ◽  
Dan Nelson Jones ◽  
Vanessa Smith-Castro
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Life History ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Biological Sex ◽  
Generative Theory ◽  
The Relationship

Recent findings indicate that a slow Life History (LH) strategy factor is associated with increased levels of Executive Functioning (EF), increased emotional intelligence, decreased levels of sexually coercive behaviors, and decreased levels of negative ethnocentrism. Based on these findings, as well as the generative theory, we predicted that slow LH strategy should inhibit negative androcentrism (bias against women). A sample of undergraduates responded to a battery of questionnaires measuring various facets of their LH Strategy, (e.g., sociosexual orientation, mating effort, mate-value, psychopathy, executive functioning, and emotional intelligence) and various convergent measures of Negative Androcentrism. A structural model that the data fit well indicated a latent protective LH strategy trait predicted decreased negative androcentrism. This trait fully mediated the relationship between participant biological sex and androcentrism. We suggest that slow LH strategy may inhibit negative attitudes toward women because of relatively decreased intrasexual competition and intersexual conflict among slow LH strategists. DOI:10.2458/azu_jmmss_v4i1_gladden

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