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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 14, 2025

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

Linguistic distance affects executive performance in trilinguals.

M Nelyubina¹, A Myachykov¹, J Abutalebi²

¹Cognitive Health and Intelligence Centre (CHIC), Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau SAR, China.

Acta Psychologica

|July 19, 2025

Summary

Linguistic distance (LD) between languages impacts executive functions in young adults. Early multilingualism benefits more from distant languages, while later stages see gains from closer language pairs.

Keywords:

Bilingualism Executive functions Linguistic distance Multilingualism

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psycholinguistics
Human Development

Background:

Bilingualism offers cognitive advantages, but the role of linguistic distance (LD) is understudied in young populations.
Previous research focused on aging individuals, leaving a gap in understanding LD's impact on younger multilinguals.
Executive functioning, crucial for cognitive control, is a key area influenced by language acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how linguistic distance (LD) between second (L2) and third (L3) languages affects executive functioning in young adults.
To examine the dynamic modulation of inhibitory executive control by L2-L3 LD in trilingual individuals aged 18-29.
To explore the trajectory of LD's influence on cognitive performance across different stages of multilingual experience.

Main Methods:

Utilized the Flanker task to assess executive functioning, specifically inhibitory control.
Recruited a cohort of young adults (18-29 years old) with varying multilingual backgrounds.
Analyzed the relationship between the linguistic distance of L2-L3 and performance on the Flanker task.

Main Results:

Linguistic distance between L2 and L3 dynamically modulates executive control in young trilinguals.
Initially, greater LD between non-native languages correlates with enhanced cognitive benefits (faster reaction times).
With increased multilingual experience, closer language pairs are associated with improved cognitive processing and executive functioning.

Conclusions:

The impact of linguistic distance on executive functioning follows a two-stage trajectory in young multilinguals.
Early stages of acquiring distant languages may yield greater cognitive effort and benefits.
Later stages of multilingualism show enhanced executive control with more similar language pairs, suggesting increased cognitive demands in managing them.