dc.contributor |
Universitat de Barcelona |
dc.contributor.author |
Festman, Julia |
dc.contributor.author |
Rodríguez Fornells, Antoni |
dc.contributor.author |
Münte, Thomas F. |
dc.date |
2014-05-09T18:20:32Z |
dc.date |
2014-05-09T18:20:32Z |
dc.date |
2010 |
dc.date |
2014-05-09T18:20:32Z |
dc.identifier.citation |
1744-9081 |
dc.identifier.citation |
578099 |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2445/53948 |
dc.format |
12 p. |
dc.format |
application/pdf |
dc.language.iso |
eng |
dc.publisher |
BioMed Central |
dc.relation |
Reproducció del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1744-9081-6-5; http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/6/1/5 |
dc.relation |
Behavioral and Brain Functions, 2010, vol. 6, num. 5, p. 1-12 |
dc.relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1744-9081-6-5; |
dc.rights |
cc-by (c) Festman, J. et al., 2010 |
dc.rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
dc.rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es |
dc.subject |
Diferències individuals |
dc.subject |
Llenguatge i llengües |
dc.subject |
Psicologia cognitiva |
dc.subject |
Individual differences |
dc.subject |
Language and languages |
dc.subject |
Cognitive psychology |
dc.title |
Individual differences in control of language interference in late bilinguals are mainly related to general executive abilities |
dc.type |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
dc.type |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.description.abstract |
Background: Recent research based on comparisons between bilinguals and monolinguals postulates that bilingualism enhances cognitive control functions, because the parallel activation of languages necessitates control of interference. In a novel approach we investigated two groups of bilinguals, distinguished by their susceptibility to cross-language interference, asking whether bilinguals with strong language control abilities ('non-switchers") have an advantage in executive functions (inhibition of irrelevant information, problem solving, planning efficiency, generative fluency and self-monitoring) compared to those bilinguals showing weaker language control abilities ('switchers"). Methods: 29 late bilinguals (21 women) were evaluated using various cognitive control neuropsychological tests [e.g., Tower of Hanoi, Ruff Figural Fluency Task, Divided Attention, Go/noGo] tapping executive functions as well as four subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. The analysis involved t-tests (two independent samples). Non-switchers (n = 16) were distinguished from switchers (n = 13) by their performance observed in a bilingual picture-naming task. Results: The non-switcher group demonstrated a better performance on the Tower of Hanoi and Ruff Figural Fluency task, faster reaction time in a Go/noGo and Divided Attention task, and produced significantly fewer errors in the Tower of Hanoi, Go/noGo, and Divided Attention tasks when compared to the switchers. Non-switchers performed significantly better on two verbal subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Information and Similarity), but not on the Performance subtests (Picture Completion, Block Design). Conclusions: The present results suggest that bilinguals with stronger language control have indeed a cognitive advantage in the administered tests involving executive functions, in particular inhibition, self-monitoring, problem solving, and generative fluency, and in two of the intelligence tests. What remains unclear is the direction of the relationship between executive functions and language control abilities. |