Bilingualism and Healthy Aging: Onset Age of Bilingualism as a Predictor of Older Adult Theory of Mind (original) (raw)
Related papers
Brain Sciences
An increasing amount of research has examined the effects of bilingualism on performance in theory of mind (ToM) tasks. Bilinguals outperform monolinguals in ToM when comparing groups. However, it is unclear what aspects of the bilingual experience contribute to this effect in a dynamic construct like ToM. To date, bilingualism has been conceptualized as a dichotic skill that is distinct from monolingualism, obscuring nuances in the degree that different bilingual experience affects cognition. The current study used a combination of network science, cognitive, and linguistic behavioral measurements to explore the factors that influence perspective-taking ToM based on participants’ current and previous experience with language, as well as their family networks’ experience with language. The results suggest that some aspects of the bilingual experience predict task performance, but not others, and these predictors align with the two-system theory of ToM. Overall, the findings provide ...
Predictors of Theory of Mind performance in bilingual and monolingual children
International Journal of Bilingualism, 2019
Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The goal of the current study was to examine whether language and Executive Function (EF) skills predict Theory of Mind (ToM) performance in bilingual and monolingual children. Design/methodology/approach: Participants included 44 monolingual English-speaking children ( MAge = 7.03, SD = 1.23), 44 simultaneous English-Spanish bilingual children ( MAge = 7.36, SD = 1.18), and 27 English first language (L1) bilinguals (native English speakers learning Spanish through dual immersion programs; MAge = 7.58, SD = 1.24). In the second-order false belief task, children were asked to reason about one character’s thoughts about another character’s thoughts. Three components of EF were measured: inhibition (via a flanker task); updating of working memory (via a Corsi blocks task); and shifting (via a card sort task). The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals 4th Edition indexed omnibus English language skills. Data and analysis: Separate l...
Multilingualism and mentalizing abilities in adults
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
Bilingual children have better Theory-of-Mind compared to monolingual children, but comparatively little research has examined whether this advantage in social cognitive ability also applies to adults. The current study investigated whether multilingual status and/or number of known languages predicts performance on a mentalizing task in a large sample of adult participants. Multilingualism was decomposed based on whether English is the first language or not. All analyses controlled for well-known predictors of mentalizing, such as gender, same-race bias, and years of English fluency. We found a U-shaped trend, such that monolinguals and multilinguals did not differ much in their mentalizing ability, but bilinguals performed worse than monolinguals. Our study builds upon past work by examining a large sample of participants, measuring a crucial aspect of adult social cognition that has previously been unexplored, controlling for several nuisance variables, and investigating whether ...
Does Bilingualism Influence Cognitive Aging
Recent evidence suggests a positive impact of bilin-gualism on cognition, including later onset of demen-tia. However, monolinguals and bilinguals might have different baseline cognitive ability. We present the first study examining the effect of bilingualism on later-life cognition controlling for childhood intelligence. We studied 853 participants, first tested in 1947 (age 5 11 years), and retested in 2008-2010. Bilinguals performed significantly better than predicted from their baseline cognitive abilities, with strongest effects on general intelligence and reading. Our results suggest a positive effect of bilingualism on later-life cognition, including in those who acquired their second language in adulthood. ANN NEUROL 2014;75:959-963 R ecent studies suggest that bilingualism improves later-life cognition 1 and delays the onset of demen-tia. 2,3 The main limitation of this research lies in the bilingualism-associated confounding variables (eg, ethnic/ environmental differences, immigration). 4 Although a recent study succeeded in minimizing the environmental factors, 5 another confound remains extremely difficult to tackle: reverse causality. Bilinguals might have different baseline characteristics from monolinguals; instead of bilingualism leading to cognitive differences, original differences (eg, childhood intelligence [CI]) could lead to bilingualism. This confound is particularly difficult to address, because it requires knowledge of prior levels of intelligence. The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936) 6,7 offers an opportunity to overcome this confound. The participants took an intelligence test in 1947 at age 11 years, and were retested in 2008-2010. Reflecting the society of its time, the cohort is remarkably homogeneous ; they are English native speakers, of European origin, born, raised, and living in and around Edinburgh. None was an immigrant. Thus, LBC1936 data allowed us to address, for the first time, the question whether learning a second language influences later cognitive performance after adjusting for CI. We predicted the strongest influence of bilingualism on frontal executive functions , 8,9 additional benefits of multilingualism, 1,4 and a better performance in bilinguals using both languages actively, although this variable has not been studied. Subjects and Methods Participants LBC1936 Wave 1 testing included 1,091 participants of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947. 6,10 Of those, 866 returned for the Wave 2 assessment in 2008-2010, 7 and 853 (410 female, 443 male, age 5 70.91-74.15 years, mean 5 72.49, standard deviation 5 0.71) completed the bilingualism questionnaire. Thirteen subjects, born abroad of British parents, moved to Scotland before the age of 11 years. The analysis conducted with and without these participants showed small differences and similar effect sizes, so we report the results from the full sample. A power analysis (G*Power 3.1.5 11), with a bilingual-ism effect expressed as a partial R 2 of 0.02 in a multiple regression model of 9 predictors, required a sample of 640 for a power of 0.95, deeming our sample sufficient. Assessment of Bilingualism The participants were asked in a questionnaire whether they had learned any languages other than English (L2), how many, at what age, and how often they used them (daily/weekly/ monthly/less than monthly/never) in 3 domains: conversation/ reading/media. We classified as bilingual participants who reported being able to communicate in L2. View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.
Cognitive and Linguistic Processing in the Bilingual Mind
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2010
The article reports research investigating the way bilingualism affects cognitive and linguistic performance across the life span. In general, bilingualism appears to have both benefits and costs. Regarding costs, bilinguals typically have lower formal language proficiency than monolinguals do; for example, they have smaller vocabularies and weaker access to lexical items. The benefits, however, are that bilinguals exhibit enhanced executive control in nonverbal tasks requiring conflict resolution, such as the Stroop and Simon tasks. These patterns and their consequences are illustrated and discussed. We also propose some suggestions regarding underlying mechanisms for these effects.
The Effect of Bilingualism on Cognition: Evidence from Early and Late Bilinguals
2000
Previous research demonstrates that bilinguals have an advatange over monolinguals in several extra-linguistic domains. Using the Simon Task, which putatively measures inhibitory control, illustrate that early bilinguals are faster and show less of a Simon effect than monolinguals, a disparity that becomes more pronounced in late adulthood. The posited mechanisms responsible for this advantage is enhanced inhibitory control and selective attention, due to life long daily use of two languages. However, there is some contention regarding both which cognitive functions are implicated in the Simon task and whether inhibitory control is the major mechanism underlying bilingual language processing. Previous studies have focused on highly proficient early bilinguals who may mobilize subtly different processes compared to other bilingual groups. The present study attempts to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for this bilingual cognitive advantage by comparing early and late bilinguals on both the Simon task and the Garner task, which measures selective attention, without requiring the inhibition of a response. In addition, results on the Simon task are reinterpreted to uncover an event file effect, a measure of cognitive flexibility . Our question is: Can a second language learned in adulthood bestow the same cognitive advantage as one learned early in life? We predicted that bilinguals would demonstrate less of a Simon effect and of a Garner effect than monolinguals, with differential results for the two bilingual groups. We also expected that bilinguals would show less of an event file effect than monolinguals. We found main effects for age and congruency on the Simon task, an event file effect across all groups which interacted with age, and no Garner interference for any groups. Limitations of the present study are addressed. Further directions to reveal the dynamics of the bilingual mind are suggested.
Characterizing Bilingual Effects on Cognition: The Search for Meaningful Individual Differences
Brain Sciences
A debate over the past decade has focused on the so-called bilingual advantage—the idea that bilingual and multilingual individuals have enhanced domain-general executive functions, relative to monolinguals, due to competition-induced monitoring of both processing and representation from the task-irrelevant language(s). In this commentary, we consider a recent study by Pot, Keijzer, and de Bot (2018), which focused on the relationship between individual differences in language usage and performance on an executive function task among multilingual older adults. We discuss their approach and findings in light of a more general movement towards embracing complexity in this domain of research, including individuals’ sociocultural context and position in the lifespan. The field increasingly considers interactions between bilingualism/multilingualism and cognition, employing measures of language use well beyond the early dichotomous perspectives on language background. Moreover, new measu...
The Effects of Adult Aging and Culture on Theory of Mind
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2021
Objectives Older adults tend to have poorer Theory of Mind (ToM) than their younger counterparts, and this has been shown in both Western and Asian cultures. We examined the role of working memory (WM) in age differences in ToM, and whether this was moderated by education and culture (the United Kingdom vs. Malaysia). Methods We used 2 ToM tests with differing demands on updating multiple mental states (false belief) and applying social rules to mental state processing (faux pas). We also looked at the role of education, socioeconomic status, and WM. A total of 298 participants from the United Kingdom and Malaysia completed faux pas, false belief, and WM tasks. Results Age effects on some aspects of ToM were greater in the Malaysian compared to the UK sample. Malaysian older adults were poorer at faux pas detection, aspects of false belief, and WM compared to young adults. In subsequent moderated mediation analyses, we found that, specifically in the Malaysian sample, the mediating ...
Theory of Mind in Bilingual and Monolingual Preschool Children
Journal of Psychology
This research examined whether theory of mind (ToM) development differs in bilingual and monolingual preschool children. Three false belief tasks were given to 163 Kurdish-Persian bilingual and Persian monolingual preschool children. Bilingual children performed significantly better than monolingual children in their ToM. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that, bilingualism contributed significantly to the prediction of preschoolers' ToM development when age and verbal ability were controlled.