Cognitive Control Advantages in Elderly Bilinguals: Uncovering the Truth
By: Sara Quinn-Hogan Cognitive control refers to the management of cognitive processes such as task flexibility, working memory, reasoning, planning, and problem solving. Some interesting findings have been reported suggesting that bilinguals have an advantage in cognitive control over monolinguals, and that this advantage persists into old age and might even slow cognitive decline. Since the population is aging and over half of the world’s population is at least bilingual, this finding is extremely relevant. Before you run out and start learning another language, however, you should be aware that there is a great deal of evidence that does not support these findings. …show more content…
Contrary to this finding, a study done in 2008 by Emmory and colleagues identified a bilingual executive processing advantage but no inhibitory control advantage in middle-aged samples. Bialystok conducted another study in which she identified a bilingual advantage in inhibitory control but no bilingual advantage in executive processing in old-aged samples. It turns out that her results were due to a monolingual advantage in certain trials, and there was no evidence of a bilingual advantage. Clearly, findings have not been …show more content…
Factors such as the age at which each language was learned and the frequency of language switching an individual does on a daily basis are also important. These factors might help explain why some people demonstrate superior executive processing abilities as opposed to attributing it solely to the fact that the person is bilingual. Until groups are more carefully matched on these factors and consistent patterns are observed, we are unable to conclude that bilingualism results in improved non-linguistic cognitive functioning in the elderly. Another problem with the claim of a bilingual advantage is that determining the direction of causality is difficult. It is hard to determine whether bilingualism is enhancing executive function or the reverse. In order to resolve this problem, we need appropriate designs and optimal statistical methods as well as carefully selected measures of executive
By: Sara Quinn-Hogan Cognitive control refers to the management of cognitive processes such as task flexibility, working memory, reasoning, planning, and problem solving. Some interesting findings have been reported suggesting that bilinguals have an advantage in cognitive control over monolinguals, and that this advantage persists into old age and might even slow cognitive decline. Since the population is aging and over half of the world’s population is at least bilingual, this finding is extremely relevant. Before you run out and start learning another language, however, you should be aware that there is a great deal of evidence that does not support these findings. …show more content…
Contrary to this finding, a study done in 2008 by Emmory and colleagues identified a bilingual executive processing advantage but no inhibitory control advantage in middle-aged samples. Bialystok conducted another study in which she identified a bilingual advantage in inhibitory control but no bilingual advantage in executive processing in old-aged samples. It turns out that her results were due to a monolingual advantage in certain trials, and there was no evidence of a bilingual advantage. Clearly, findings have not been …show more content…
Factors such as the age at which each language was learned and the frequency of language switching an individual does on a daily basis are also important. These factors might help explain why some people demonstrate superior executive processing abilities as opposed to attributing it solely to the fact that the person is bilingual. Until groups are more carefully matched on these factors and consistent patterns are observed, we are unable to conclude that bilingualism results in improved non-linguistic cognitive functioning in the elderly. Another problem with the claim of a bilingual advantage is that determining the direction of causality is difficult. It is hard to determine whether bilingualism is enhancing executive function or the reverse. In order to resolve this problem, we need appropriate designs and optimal statistical methods as well as carefully selected measures of executive