Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2026

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
Influence of Language Dominance on Crosslinguistic and Nonlinguistic Interference Resolution in Bilinguals
Andrea Gálvez-McDonough1,2, Henrike K Blumenfeld1,3, Anahy Barragán-Diaz1,4
1School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University.
None:
We examined how relative language dominance impacts Spanish-English bilinguals' crosslinguistic and nonlinguistic interference resolution abilities during a web-based Spanish picture-word interference naming task and a subsequent spatial Stroop paradigm, and the relationship between the two. Results show the expected interference and facilitation effects in the online setting across both tasks. Additionally, participants with greater English dominance had larger within-language, Spanish facilitation and marginally larger crosslinguistic (English to Spanish) interference effects reflected on accuracy performance. Similarly, participants with greater English dominance had larger nonlinguistic congruency facilitation effects. Our results are in line with other studies finding a relation between linguistic and nonlinguistic cognitive control. Correlated reaction time performance between the linguistic and nonlinguistic paradigms suggests that overcoming crosslinguistic interference may be partly based on cognitive control processes used outside of language. Modulations by language dominance underline the importance of accounting for relative language proficiency in bilinguals' two languages when studying bilingualism.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Language and Cognition
Lateralization
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Interference and Decay
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
Causes of Similarity-Dissimilarity Effect
Impact of Groups on Groups

