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Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
Ecological Validity in Bilingualism Research and the Bilingual Advantage
Esti Blanco-Elorrieta1, Liina Pylkkänen2
1Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 129188, UAE.
Abstract:
Traditional research in bilingualism has consistently found that switching languages is effortful, placing demands on neural systems of cognitive control. This finding runs counter to most bilinguals' intuitive experience. We review a body of recent work showing that, in fact, when bilinguals switch languages voluntarily, both the behavioral cost of switching and the associated recruitment of cognitive control areas are greatly reduced or completely eliminated. This suggests that switching languages is not inherently effortful, but rather, particular communicative demands may make it costly. The new evidence also challenges the basic premise underlying the bilingual advantage hypothesis. We articulate a more nuanced version of it, in which the advantage is limited to bilinguals who frequently switch languages based on external constraints.
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