1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
  4. Volume 6, Issue 5
  5. Article
Volume 6, Issue 5
  • ISSN 1879-9264
  • E-ISSN: 1879-9272
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Literature on bilingualism and cognition is characterised by a large amount of conflicting evidence. In some studies, bilinguals perform better then monolinguals on executive tasks involving inhibition, monitoring and switching but are slower on tasks of lexical processing. Other studies don’t find any significant effects and challenge the very existence of cognitive differences between monolinguals and bilinguals. In this paper I question the assumption that different studies performed in different parts of the world should yield the same results. I argue that the environment (in the widest sense of the word) in which an experiment is conducted can exert profound influence on its outcome. Against the background of the current debate about the replication crisis in science, I propose that conflicting evidence is not a threat to the trustworthiness of scientific research but a sign of the health of a discipline and a welcome opportunity to identify new relevant variables.

© John Benjamins
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/lab.16002.bak
2016-06-24
2024-12-11

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/lab.16002.bak
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Abutalebi, J. , Della Rosa, P.A. , Ding, G. , Weekes, B. , Costa, A. , & Green, D.W.
    (2013) Language proficiency modulates the engagement of cognitive control areas in multilinguals. Cortex, 49 (3), 905–911. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.018
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.018 [Google Scholar]
  2. Alladi, S. , Bak, T.H. , Duggirala, V. , Surampudi, B. , Shailaja, M. , Shukla, A.K. , Kaul, S.
    (2013) Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. Neurology, 81 (22), 1938–1944. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000436620.33155.a4
     https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000436620.33155.a4 [Google Scholar]
  3. Alladi, S. , Bak, T.H. , Mekala, S. , Rajan, A. , Chaudhuri, J.R. , Mioshi , Kaul, S.
    (2015) Impact of Bilingualism on Cognitive Outcome After Stroke. Stroke, on-line publication: 10.1161/strokeaha.115.010418.
     https://doi.org/10.1161/strokeaha.115.010418 [Google Scholar]
  4. Andel, R. , Kåreholt, I. , Parker, M.G. , Thorslund, M. , & Gatz, M.
    (2007) Complexity of primary lifetime occupation and cognition in advanced old age. Journal of Aging and Health, 19 (3), 397–415. doi: 10.1177/0898264307300171
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264307300171 [Google Scholar]
  5. Andel, R. , Silverstein, M. , & Kåreholt, I.
    (2014) The role of midlife occupational complexity and leisure activity in late-life cognition. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, gbu110.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bak, T.
    (2015) Beyond a simple “yes” or “no”. Cortex, 73, 332–333. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.08.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.08.003 [Google Scholar]
  7. Bak, T. , & Alladi, S.
    (2015) Bilingualism, dementia and the tale of many variables: why we need to move beyond the Western World. Cortex, Published on-line 4 July 2015.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Bak, T. , Alladi, H , & Alladi, S.
    (2014) Can being bilingual affect the onset of dementia?Future Neurology, 9 (2), 101–103. doi: 10.2217/fnl.14.8
     https://doi.org/10.2217/fnl.14.8 [Google Scholar]
  9. Bak, T.H.
    (2013a) The importance of looking in dark places. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal degeneration, 14 (1), 1–2. doi: 10.3109/21678421.2013.760150
     https://doi.org/10.3109/21678421.2013.760150 [Google Scholar]
  10. (2013b) The neuroscience of action semantics in neurodegenerative brain diseases. Current opinion in neurology. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000039
     https://doi.org/10.1097/WCO.0000000000000039 [Google Scholar]
  11. (2016) The impact of bilingualism on cognitive aging and dementia: finding a path through a forest of confounding variables. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, Special Issue on Bilingualism and Ageing. Published on-line25 January 2016. doi: 10.1075/lab.15002.bak
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15002.bak [Google Scholar]
  12. Bak, T.H. , & Chandran, S.
    (2012) What wires together dies together: verbs, actions and neurodegeneration in motor neuron disease. Cortex, 48 (7), 936–944. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2011.07.008
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2011.07.008 [Google Scholar]
  13. Bak, T.H. , Nissan, J.J. , Allerhand, M.M. , & Deary, I.J.
    (2014) Does bilingualism influence cognitive aging?Annals of Neurology. doi: 10.1002/ana.24158
     https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.24158 [Google Scholar]
  14. Bak, T.H. , Vega-Mendoza, M. , & Sorace, A.
    (2014) Never too late? An advantage on tests of auditory attention extends to late bilinguals. Frontiers in psychology, 5. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00485
     https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00485 [Google Scholar]
  15. Bialystok, E.
    (2009) Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12 (01), 3–11. doi: 10.1017/S1366728908003477
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728908003477 [Google Scholar]
  16. Bialystok, E. , Abutalebi, J. , Bak, T.H. , Burke, D. , Kroll, J.
    (2016) Ageing in two languages: implications for public health. Ageing Research Reviews, Published on-line, 16 March 2016. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2016.03.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2016.03.003 [Google Scholar]
  17. Bialystok, E. , Craik, F.I. , & Freedman, M.
    (2007) Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia, 45 (2), 459–464. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.009
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.009 [Google Scholar]
  18. Bialystok, E. , & DePape, A.-M.
    (2009) Musical expertise, bilingualism, and executive functioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 35 (2), 565.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Bialystok, E. , & Feng, X.
    (2009) Language proficiency and executive control in proactive interference: Evidence from monolingual and bilingual children and adults. Brain and Language, 109 (2), 93–100. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2008.09.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2008.09.001 [Google Scholar]
  20. Cesar, K.G. , Brucki, S.M. , Takada, L.T. , Nascimento, L.F. , Gomes, C.M. , Almeida, M.C. , Bahia, V.S.
    (2015) Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment Without Dementia and Dementia in Tremembe, Brazil. Alzheimer disease and associated disorders: 10.1097. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000122
     https://doi.org/10.1097/WAD.0000000000000122 [Google Scholar]
  21. Open Science Collaboration
    Open Science Collaboration (2015) Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349 (6251), aac4716. doi: 10.1126/science.aac4716
     https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716 [Google Scholar]
  22. Costa, A. , Hernández, M. , Costa-Faidella, J. , & Sebastián-Gallés, N.
    (2009) On the bilingual advantage in conflict processing: Now you see it, now you don’t. Cognition, 113 (2), 135–149. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.001 [Google Scholar]
  23. de Bruin, A. , Bak, T.H. , & Della Sala, S.
    (2015) Examining the effects of active versus inactive bilingualism on executive control in a carefully matched non-immigrant sample. Journal of Memory and Language, 85, 15–26. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2015.07.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2015.07.001 [Google Scholar]
  24. de Bruin, A. , & Della Sala, S.
    (2015) The decline effect: How initially strong results tend to decrease over time. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.025
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.025 [Google Scholar]
  25. Duñabeitia, J.A. , & Carreiras, M.
    (2015) The bilingual advantage: Acta est fabula. Cortex, 73, 371–372. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.06.009
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.06.009 [Google Scholar]
  26. Duñabeitia, J.A. , Hernández, J.A. , Antón, E. , Macizo, P. , Estévez, A. , Fuentes, L.J. , & Carreiras, M.
    (2014) The inhibitory advantage in bilingual children revisited: Myth or reality?Experimental psychology, 61 (3), 234. doi: 10.1027/1618‑3169/a000243
     https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000243 [Google Scholar]
  27. Easterbrook, P.J. , Gopalan, R. , Berlin, J. , & Matthews, D.R.
    (1991) Publication bias in clinical research. The Lancet, 337 (8746), 867–872. doi: 10.1016/0140‑6736(91)90201‑Y
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0140-6736(91)90201-Y [Google Scholar]
  28. Ekman, P. , & Friesen, W.V.
    (1971) Constants across cultures in the face and emotion. Journal of personality and social psychology, 17 (2), 124. doi: 10.1037/h0030377
     https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030377 [Google Scholar]
  29. Ekman, P. , Friesen, W.V. , O’Sullivan, M. , Chan, A. , Diacoyanni-Tarlatzis, I. , Heider, K. , Ricci-Bitti, P.E.
    (1987) Universals and cultural differences in the judgments of facial expressions of emotion. Journal of personality and social psychology, 53 (4), 712. doi: 10.1037/0022‑3514.53.4.712
     https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.53.4.712 [Google Scholar]
  30. Freedman, M. , Alladi, S. , Chertkow, H. , Bialystok, E. , Craik, F.I. , Phillips, N.A. , Bak, T.H.
    (2014) Delaying Onset of Dementia: Are Two Languages Enough?Behavioural Neurology 2014: 808137. doi: 10.1155/2014/808137
     https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/808137 [Google Scholar]
  31. Fuller-Thomson, E.
    (in press). Emerging evidence contradicts the hypothesis that bilingualism delays dementia onset. A Commentary on “Age of dementia diagnosis in community dwelling bilingual and monolingual Hispanic Americans” by Lawton et al., 2014. Cortex.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Fuller-Thomson, E. , & Kuh, D.
    (2014) The healthy migrant effect may confound the link between bilingualism and delayed onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, 52, 128. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2013.08.009
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2013.08.009 [Google Scholar]
  33. Fuller-Thomson, E. , Milaszewski, D. , & Abdelmessih, S.A.
    (2013) The importance of untangling the role of nativity and bilingualism in Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, 49 (5), 1441; discussion1442–1443. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.10.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2012.10.001 [Google Scholar]
  34. Gold, B.T. , Kim, C. , Johnson, N.F. , Kryscio, R.J. , & Smith, C.D.
    (2013) Lifelong bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging. The Journal of Neuroscience, 33 (2), 387–396. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3837‑12.2013
     https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3837-12.2013 [Google Scholar]
  35. Gollan, T.H. , Montoya, R.I. , Fennema-Notestine, C. , & Morris, S.K.
    (2005) Bilingualism affects picture naming but not picture classification. Memory & cognition, 33 (7), 1220–1234. doi: 10.3758/BF03193224
     https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193224 [Google Scholar]
  36. Gollan, T.H. , Salmon, D.P. , Montoya, R.I. , & Galasko, D.R.
    (2011) Degree of bilingualism predicts age of diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in low-education but not in highly educated Hispanics. Neuropsychologia, 49 (14), 3826–3830. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.09.041
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.09.041 [Google Scholar]
  37. Green, D.W.
    (2011) Language control in different contexts: the behavioral ecology of bilingual speakers. Frontiers in psychology, 2: 10.3389. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00103
     https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00103 [Google Scholar]
  38. Green, D.W. , & Abutalebi, J.
    (2013) Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25 (5), 515–530. doi: 10.1080/20445911.2013.796377
     https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.796377 [Google Scholar]
  39. Hasher L , Zacks RT , May, CP
    (1999) Inhibitory control, circadian arousal and age. In Gopher & Koriat (eds) Cognitive Regulation of Performance: p563–575. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Henrich, J. , Heine, S.J. , & Norenzayan, A.
    (2010) The weirdest people in the world?Behavioral and brain sciences, 33 (2–3), 61–83. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X0999152X
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0999152X [Google Scholar]
  41. Ivanova, I. , & Costa, A.
    (2008) Does bilingualism hamper lexical access in speech production?Acta psychologica, 127 (2), 277–288. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.06.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.06.003 [Google Scholar]
  42. Iyer, G.K. , Alladi, S. , Bak, T.H. , Shailaja, M. , Mamidipudi, A. , & Rajan, A.
    (2014) Dementia in developing countries: does education play the same role in India as in the West?Dement. neuropsychol, 8 (2). doi: 10.1590/S1980‑57642014DN82000008
     https://doi.org/10.1590/S1980-57642014DN82000008 [Google Scholar]
  43. Kavé, G. , Eyal, N. , Shorek, A. , & Cohen-Mansfield, J.
    (2008) Multilingualism and cognitive state in the oldest old. Psychology and aging, 23 (1), 70. doi: 10.1037/0882‑7974.23.1.70
     https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.23.1.70 [Google Scholar]
  44. Kosowicz, M. , & MacPherson, S.E.
    (in press). Improving multitasking assessment in healthy older adults using a prop-based version of the breakfast task. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Kovács, Á. M. , & Mehler, J.
    (2009) Cognitive gains in 7-month-old bilingual infants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106 (16), 6556–6560. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0811323106
     https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0811323106 [Google Scholar]
  46. Lawton, D.M. , Gasquoine, P.G. , & Weimer, A.A.
    (2014) Age of dementia diagnosis in community dwelling bilingual and monolingual Hispanic Americans. Cortex.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Linck, J.A. , Kroll, J.F. , & Sunderman, G.
    (2009) Losing access to the native language while immersed in a second language: Evidence for the role of inhibition in second-language learning. Psychological science, 20 (12), 1507–1515. doi: 10.1111/j.1467‑9280.2009.02480.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02480.x [Google Scholar]
  48. Ljungberg, J.K. , Hansson, P. , Andrés, P. , Josefsson, M. , & Nilsson, L.-G.
    (2013) A longitudinal study of memory advantages in bilinguals. PloS one, 8 (9), e73029. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073029
     https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073029 [Google Scholar]
  49. Luk, G. , & Bialystok, E.
    (2013) Bilingualism is not a categorical variable: Interaction between language proficiency and usage. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25 (5), 605–621. doi: 10.1080/20445911.2013.795574
     https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.795574 [Google Scholar]
  50. Paap, K.R. , & Greenberg, Z.I.
    (2013) There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive psychology, 66 (2), 232–258. doi: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002 [Google Scholar]
  51. Paap, K.R. , Johnson, H.A. , & Sawi, O.
    (2015) Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to very specific and undetermined circumstances. Cortex. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.04.014
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.04.014 [Google Scholar]
  52. Park, D.C. , Lodi-Smith, J. , Drew, L. , Haber, S. , Hebrank, A. , Bischof, G.N. , & Aamodt, W.
    (2014) The Impact of Sustained Engagement on Cognitive Function in Older Adults The Synapse Project. Psychological science, 25 (1), 103–112. doi: 10.1177/0956797613499592
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613499592 [Google Scholar]
  53. Saer, D.J.
    (1922) An Inquiry Into the Effect of Bilingualism Upon the Intelligence of Young Children. Journal of Experimental Pedagogy, 14, 25–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Schroeder, S.R. , Marian, V. , Shook, A. , & Bartolotti, J.
    (2015) Bilingualism and Musicianship Enhance Cognitive Control. Neural Plasticity, 501, 717861.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Smart, E.L. , Gow, A.J. , & Deary, I.J.
    (2014) Occupational complexity and lifetime cognitive abilities. Neurology, 83 (24), 2285–2291. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001075
     https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000001075 [Google Scholar]
  56. Sterling, T.D.
    (1959) Publication decisions and their possible effects on inferences drawn from tests of significance—or vice versa. Journal of the American statistical association, 54 (285), 30–34.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Stern, Y.
    (2002) What is cognitive reserve? Theory and research application of the reserve concept. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 8 (03), 448–460. doi: 10.1017/S1355617702813248
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617702813248 [Google Scholar]
  58. Sumner, P. , Vivian-Griffith, S. , Boivin, J. , Williams, A. , Venetis, C.A. , Davis, A. , Ogden, J. , Whelan, L. , Hughes, B. , Dalton, B. , Boy, B. , Chambers CD
    (2014) The associatio between exaggeration in health-related science and academic press releases: a retrospective observational study. British Medical Journal, 349, g:7015.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Tao, L. , Marzecová, A. , Taft, M. , Asanowicz, D. , & Wodniecka, Z.
    (2011) The efficiency of attentional networks in early and late bilinguals: the role of age of acquisition. Frontiers in psychology, 2: 10.3389. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00123
     https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00123 [Google Scholar]
  60. Titone, D. , & Baum, S.
    (2014) The future of bilingualism research: Insufferably optimistic and replete with new questions. Applied Psycholinguistics, 35 (05), 933–942. doi: 10.1017/S0142716414000289
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716414000289 [Google Scholar]
  61. Valian, V.
    (2015) Bilingualism and cognition: A focus on mechanisms. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 (01), 47–50. doi: 10.1017/S1366728914000698
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728914000698 [Google Scholar]
  62. Vega-Mendoza, M. , West, H. , Sorace, A. , & Bak, T.H.
    (2015) The impact of late, non-balanced bilingualism on cognitive performance. Cognition, 137, 40–46. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.12.008
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.12.008 [Google Scholar]
  63. Woumans, E. , & Duyck, W.
    (2015) The bilingual advantage debate: Moving toward different methods for verifying its existence. Cortex, 73, 356–357. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.07.012
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.07.012 [Google Scholar]
  64. Woumans, E. , Santens, P. , Sieben, A. , Versijpt, J. , Stevens, M. , & Duyck, W.
    (2015) Bilingualism delays clinical manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 (03), 568–574. doi: 10.1017/S136672891400087X
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672891400087X [Google Scholar]
  65. Yang, H. , Hartanto, A. , & Yang, S.
    (in press). The importance of bilingual experience in assessing bilingual advantages in executive functions. Cortex.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Yeung, C.M. , John, P.D. S. , Menec, V. , & Tyas, S.L.
    (2014) Is Bilingualism Associated With a Lower Risk of Dementia in Community-living Older Adults? Cross-sectional and Prospective Analyses. Alzheimer disease and associated disorders: 28 (4), 326–332. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000019
     https://doi.org/10.1097/WAD.0000000000000019 [Google Scholar]
  67. Zahodne, L.B. , Schofield, P.W. , Farrell, M.T. , Stern, Y. , & Manly, J.J.
    (2014) Bilingualism does not alter cognitive decline or dementia risk among Spanish-speaking immigrants. Neuropsychology, 28 (2), 238. doi: 10.1037/neu0000014
     https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000014 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/lab.16002.bak
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): bias; bilingualism; replication

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error