A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Relationship between language switching experience and executive functions in bilinguals: an Internet-based study
Authors: Jylkkä J, Soveri A, Wahlström J, Lehtonen M, Rodríguez-Fornells A, Laine M
Publisher: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Publication year: 2017
Journal: Journal of Cognitive Psychology
Journal name in source: JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Journal acronym: J COGN PSYCHOL
Volume: 29
Issue: 4
First page : 404
Last page: 419
Number of pages: 16
ISSN: 2044-5911
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2017.1282489(external)
Abstract
We examined the relationship between self-reported everyday language switching experience and the performance of early bilinguals in tasks measuring different executive functions. Our participants were Finnish-Swedish early bilinguals, aged 16-41 years (N=66, Experiment 1) and 18-69 years (N=111, Experiment 2). An earlier study using a sample from a similar population discovered a negative relationship between self-reported language switching and a mixing cost in error rates in a number-letter task. This finding was not replicated. Instead, we found that a higher rate of reported contextual language switching predicted larger switching cost reaction times in the number-letter task, and that a higher rate of reported unintended language switches predicted larger error rates in a spatial n-back task. We conclude that these results likely reflect individual differences in executive skills, and do not provide evidence for the hypothesis that language switching trains executive functions.
We examined the relationship between self-reported everyday language switching experience and the performance of early bilinguals in tasks measuring different executive functions. Our participants were Finnish-Swedish early bilinguals, aged 16-41 years (N=66, Experiment 1) and 18-69 years (N=111, Experiment 2). An earlier study using a sample from a similar population discovered a negative relationship between self-reported language switching and a mixing cost in error rates in a number-letter task. This finding was not replicated. Instead, we found that a higher rate of reported contextual language switching predicted larger switching cost reaction times in the number-letter task, and that a higher rate of reported unintended language switches predicted larger error rates in a spatial n-back task. We conclude that these results likely reflect individual differences in executive skills, and do not provide evidence for the hypothesis that language switching trains executive functions.
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