Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

Lateralization

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic

The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic

In order to make good decisions, we use our knowledge and our reasoning. Often, this knowledge and reasoning is sound and solid. However, sometimes, we are swayed by biases or by others manipulating a situation. For example, let’s say you and three friends wanted to rent a house and had a combined target budget of $1,600. The realtor shows you only very run-down houses for $1,600 and then shows you a very nice house for $2,000. Might you ask each person to pay more in rent to get the...

Language Development

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Cognitive Flexibility and Bilingual Language Switching: An fMRI Meta-Analysis.

The European journal of neuroscience·2026

Same author

The Effect of Age on Post-Stroke Language Outcomes.

Journal of aging research·2026

Same author

Inner speech and the neurobiology of psychosis.

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews·2026

Same author

Object Naming After Thalamic Damage: Evidence From a Large-Scale, Chronic-Phase Study of Left Hemisphere Stroke Survivors.

Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.)·2026

Same author

How object naming dissociates from repetition and comprehension impairments when post stroke aphasia is less severe.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

The impact of pre-stroke formal education on language test performance in aphasic and non-aphasic stroke survivors.

Aphasiology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis.

David W Green¹, Jubin Abutalebi²

¹Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.

Journal of Cognitive Psychology (Hove, England)

|August 1, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Bilingual speakers adapt their language control processes based on interactional context. This adaptive control hypothesis suggests changes in neural capacity and efficiency for better language management.

Keywords:

Adaptive control hypothesis Bilingual Cognitive control Language control

More Related Videos

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published on: October 3, 2018

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Published on: October 3, 2018

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psycholinguistics
Bilingualism Research

Background:

Speech comprehension and production rely on cognitive control processes.
Previous research shows increased cognitive control to meet goals.
The adaptive control hypothesis posits that language control processes dynamically adjust to context.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the nature and dynamics of control processes in bilingual speech production.
To propose and define the adaptive control hypothesis.
To predict how interactional contexts influence language control adaptations.

Main Methods:

Distinguishing eight specific control processes (e.g., goal maintenance, conflict monitoring, interference suppression).
Analyzing demands imposed by three interactional contexts: single language, dual language, and dense code-switching.
Predicting adaptive changes in neural regions and circuits associated with control processes.

Main Results:

The adaptive control hypothesis suggests that language control mechanisms change in response to recurring contextual demands.
Specific adaptations are predicted for different contexts, such as a dual-language environment.
A dual-language context may lead to the adaptation of control process cascades to resolve dilemmas.

Conclusions:

Language control processes are not static but adapt to the demands of the interactional environment.
Understanding these adaptations is crucial for explaining bilingual language processing.
Future research should combine behavioral and neuroimaging methods to test the adaptive control hypothesis comprehensively.