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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 29, 2025

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

Investigating local and global control mechanisms in bilingual grammatical processing.

Roy Seo¹, Chantel S Prat²

¹Department of Radiology, Integrated Brain Imaging Center, University of Washington Medical Center.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition

|May 25, 2023

Summary

Bilinguals use global and local control to manage languages. Global control, like selecting a target language, is more effective than local control for morphosyntactic tasks in bilingual speakers.

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Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Cognitive Neuroscience
Bilingualism Research

Background:

Bilinguals manage coactivated languages using global and local control mechanisms.
The operation of these control mechanisms on morphosyntactic information remains underexplored.
Understanding language control is crucial for explaining bilingual cognitive processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate bilingual language control mechanisms in a morphosyntactic production task.
To determine the effectiveness of global versus local control in managing morphosyntax.
To examine parallel language activation across languages and within language rules.

Main Methods:

Two experiments utilized rapid instructed task learning paradigms.
Priming-in-item-recognition manipulations assessed parallel activation.
Forty-eight early Spanish-English bilinguals participated.

Main Results:

Rejecting incorrect responses in the correct target language was more difficult.
Rejecting incorrect responses with correct grammar in the non-target language was easier.
This indicates differential engagement of control mechanisms based on error type.

Conclusions:

Global language selection control is more efficient than local control for morphosyntax.
Findings suggest a hierarchical organization of language control in bilinguals.
This has implications for models of bilingual language production and control.