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Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

473
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.
473
Language Development01:22

Language Development

485
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...
485
Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 26, 2025

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
05:31

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

14.9K

How bilingualism modulates selective attention in children.

Jacqueline Phelps1, Adam Attaheri2, Mirjana Bozic3

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. jap90@cam.ac.uk.

Scientific Reports
|April 17, 2022
PubMed
Summary

Bilingual children may not have enhanced attention, but rather a different way of managing it. This study suggests bilingualism redistributes attentional resources rather than increasing overall capacity.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 26, 2025

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Bilingualism is known to affect cognitive processes, particularly selective attention in children.
  • The precise neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying these effects remain under investigation.
  • Existing research suggests bilinguals may exhibit enhanced attentional control.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether bilingual children possess increased attentional capacity or economize existing resources.
  • To explore the neural mechanisms underlying attentional differences between monolingual and bilingual children.
  • To determine if constant management of multiple languages enhances or reallocates attentional resources.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized electroencephalography (EEG) to record neural responses to attended and unattended auditory stimuli.
  • Analyzed the neural encoding of speech envelopes in both attended and unattended conditions.
  • Compared behavioral performance and neural encoding patterns in monolingual and bilingual children aged 7-12.
  • Assessed the reconstructability of attended speech from neuronal population responses.

Main Results:

  • Monolingual and bilingual children demonstrated equivalent behavioral performance on the selective attention task.
  • Despite similar behavior, significant differences were observed in the neural encoding of attended speech.
  • Neural encoding patterns in bilingual children suggested a redistribution of attentional resources, not an enhancement of capacity.
  • EEG data indicated that bilinguals' neural processing adapted to manage competing linguistic input.

Conclusions:

  • Bilingual children's attentional system appears to operate differently, involving resource redistribution rather than increased capacity.
  • The findings challenge the notion of enhanced attentional capacity in bilinguals, proposing a resource-saving mechanism instead.
  • This study provides novel insights into the neural underpinnings of cognitive flexibility shaped by bilingual language experience.