Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantage
Bilinguals must manage two languages on a daily basis, which requires, among other things, dealing with cross-linguistic interference. Such cognitive training is assumed to underlie better performance of bilinguals, relative to monolinguals, in non-verbal cognitive tasks. Ηowever, the suggested adva...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | ell |
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National Documentation Center
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Ψυχολογία: το Περιοδικό της Ελληνικής Ψυχολογικής Εταιρείας |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/psychology/article/view/25588 |
| _version_ | 1817968544543932416 |
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| author | Elisavet Chrysochoou Styliani Kanaki Ana B. Vivas |
| author_facet | Elisavet Chrysochoou Styliani Kanaki Ana B. Vivas |
| author_sort | Elisavet Chrysochoou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bilinguals must manage two languages on a daily basis, which requires, among other things, dealing with cross-linguistic interference. Such cognitive training is assumed to underlie better performance of bilinguals, relative to monolinguals, in non-verbal cognitive tasks. Ηowever, the suggested advantage has recently been questioned. The present study aimed at shedding light into this debate, focusing on French-Greek early bilingual adults. Exposure to two languages from the first few years of life has been suggested to favour the demonstration of an advantage. Bilinguals were compared to Greek-speaking monolingual adults (matched for age, gender, non-verbal intelligence, and SES) on executive function tasks, tapping switching, inhibition, and updating processes. Task demands were also manipulated. In line with the suggested advantage and as expected, in the switching paradigm, bilinguals performed faster overall and demonstrated a smaller mixing cost; this can be assumed to reflect better general monitoring and top-down processing for bilingual participants. In contrast, the groups did not differ on switching cost, neither on the inhibition and updating measures. Moreover, contrary to what was expected, the cognitive measures did not correlate with an index of how balanced bilingualism was. Findings do not support a general and robust cognitive advantage in a sample of early bilinguals. Factors that might influence its observation are discussed, along with lines of future research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:10:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d923ceafa72c46689c1cc2b2471f57bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1106-5737 2732-6640 |
| language | ell |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:10:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | National Documentation Center |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ψυχολογία: το Περιοδικό της Ελληνικής Ψυχολογικής Εταιρείας |
| spelling | doaj.art-d923ceafa72c46689c1cc2b2471f57bc2022-12-22T02:31:52ZellNational Documentation CenterΨυχολογία: το Περιοδικό της Ελληνικής Ψυχολογικής Εταιρείας1106-57372732-66402020-12-0125210.12681/psy_hps.25588Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantageElisavet Chrysochoou0Styliani Kanaki1Ana B. Vivas2Aristotle University of ThessalonikiUniversity of YorkThe University of Sheffield International Faculty, City CollegeBilinguals must manage two languages on a daily basis, which requires, among other things, dealing with cross-linguistic interference. Such cognitive training is assumed to underlie better performance of bilinguals, relative to monolinguals, in non-verbal cognitive tasks. Ηowever, the suggested advantage has recently been questioned. The present study aimed at shedding light into this debate, focusing on French-Greek early bilingual adults. Exposure to two languages from the first few years of life has been suggested to favour the demonstration of an advantage. Bilinguals were compared to Greek-speaking monolingual adults (matched for age, gender, non-verbal intelligence, and SES) on executive function tasks, tapping switching, inhibition, and updating processes. Task demands were also manipulated. In line with the suggested advantage and as expected, in the switching paradigm, bilinguals performed faster overall and demonstrated a smaller mixing cost; this can be assumed to reflect better general monitoring and top-down processing for bilingual participants. In contrast, the groups did not differ on switching cost, neither on the inhibition and updating measures. Moreover, contrary to what was expected, the cognitive measures did not correlate with an index of how balanced bilingualism was. Findings do not support a general and robust cognitive advantage in a sample of early bilinguals. Factors that might influence its observation are discussed, along with lines of future research.https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/psychology/article/view/25588early bilingualismexecutive functionsinhibitionswitchingupdating |
| spellingShingle | Elisavet Chrysochoou Styliani Kanaki Ana B. Vivas Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantage Ψυχολογία: το Περιοδικό της Ελληνικής Ψυχολογικής Εταιρείας early bilingualism executive functions inhibition switching updating |
| title | Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantage |
| title_full | Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantage |
| title_fullStr | Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantage |
| title_full_unstemmed | Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantage |
| title_short | Executive functions in French-Greek early bilinguals: In search of the suggested bilingual advantage |
| title_sort | executive functions in french greek early bilinguals in search of the suggested bilingual advantage |
| topic | early bilingualism executive functions inhibition switching updating |
| url | https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/psychology/article/view/25588 |
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