When multiple, competing words are activated, bilinguals must select words from the appropriate language and inhibit words from the other language. The bilingual cognitive advantage presumably derives from bilinguals’ extensive experience in managing two or more languages from an early age. Studies using other types of tasks such as word-learning and problem-solving have also demonstrated bilingual cognitive advantages compared to monolinguals. Studies have found that bilinguals are faster than monolinguals in their ability to inhibit inappropriate stimuli. Slower reaction time to incongruent stimuli (red ink of word GREEN) compared to congruent stimuli (red ink on word RED) demonstrates an interference effect due to the presen
In the classic Stroop task, participants are presented with colour words (GREEN) printed in different colour ink (red ink) and the task requires participants to name the colour of the ink (say “red’), ignoring the word (GREEN). The well-known Stroop paradigm has been widely used to study inhibitory control and interference effects across a wide range of populations. Does knowing multiple languages also afford cognitive advantages? There has been a great deal of interest surrounding the “bilingual cognitive advantage” hypothesis - a hypothesis that states that speaking multiple languages strengthens executive functioning.Įarly research on this subject demonstrated that bilinguals, people who regularly and fluently speak more than 2 languages, outperform monolinguals in a wide range of executive function tasks such as conflict monitoring, working memory, task switching and attentional control. In the United States, there has been a steady increase in bilingualism since the 1980s. Currently more than 50% of the world population fluently speak more than a single language.
In a global world, knowing multiple languages can afford a variety of economic and social advantages.
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