Non-adjacent dependency learning from variable input: investigating the effects of bilingualism, phonological memory,...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Bilingualism is proposed to enhance statistical learning, particularly with variable input.
• Empirical evidence supporting a bilingual advantage in statistical learning is limited.
• The role of phonological memory and cognitive control in this potential advantage is unclear due to inconsistent findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare statistical learning from consistent and variable input in monolingual and bilingual children and adults.
• To investigate whether phonological memory and cognitive control mediate any observed differences in statistical learning between bilinguals and monolinguals.

Main Methods:

• Statistical learning was assessed in monolingual and bilingual participants (children and adults) using consistent and variable input conditions.
• Phonological memory and cognitive control were measured to explore their relationship with statistical learning performance.

Main Results:

• A potential bilingual advantage in statistical learning was observed but was not robust, varying across age groups and experimental orders.
• Bilinguals did not outperform monolinguals on measures of phonological memory and cognitive control.
• Performance on phonological memory and cognitive control measures did not consistently correlate with statistical learning outcomes.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that any bilingual advantage in statistical learning is not consistently robust.
• There is no evidence that enhanced statistical learning in bilinguals is attributable to improvements in phonological memory or cognitive control.