Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T07:29:33.539Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Age-related effects over bilingual language control and executive control*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2013

MARCO CALABRIA ,
FRANCESCA M. BRANZI ,
PAULA MARNE ,
MIREIA HERNÁNDEZ  and
ALBERT COSTA
MARCO CALABRIA
Affiliation:
Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
FRANCESCA M. BRANZI
Affiliation:
Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
PAULA MARNE
Affiliation:
Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
MIREIA HERNÁNDEZ
Affiliation:
Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain & Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
ALBERT COSTA*
Affiliation:
Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain & Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Spain
*
Address for correspondence: Albert Costa, Departament de Tecnologies de la Informació i les Comunicacions, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, C/Tanger, 122-140, 08014-Barcelona, Spain[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of the present study is two-fold. First, we investigate age-related changes to bilingual language control (bLC) mechanisms across lifespan. Second, we explore the relation between bLC mechanisms and those of the domain-general executive (EC) system by looking at age effects on these two systems. To do so, we compare the performances of the three age groups of bilinguals (young, middle-aged and elderly) in a language switching task to those of non-linguistic switching task. We found an age-related change in the non-linguistic switch cost but not in the language switch cost. Moreover, we did not find any correlation between the magnitudes of the switch costs. Taken together these results indicate that bLC is not affected by age as the EC system is, and interestingly, we add new evidence that the bLC mechanisms are not fully subsidiary to those of the domain-general EC system.

Keywords

bilingualismagingexecutive controlbilingual language control
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 65 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This work was supported by grants from the Spanish government (PSI2008-01191, PSI2011-23033, Consolider Ingenio 2010 CSD2007-00012, IMSERSO 48/2010) and the Catalan government (Consolidat SGR 2009-1521). Marco Calabria was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Government (Juan de la Cierva fellowship). Francesca M. Branzi was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Government (FPU-2009-2013). This research was also supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme awarded to Mireia Hernández. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their comments.

References

Abutalebi, J., Annoni, J. M., Zimine, I., Pegna, A. J., Seghier, M. L., Lee-Jahnke, H., Lazeyras, F., Cappa, S. F., & Khateb, A. (2008). Language control and lexical competition in bilinguals: An event-related FMRI study. Cerebral Cortex, 18, 1496–1505.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abutalebi, J., Della Rosa, P. A., Ding, G., Weekes, B., Costa, A., & Green, D. W. (2013). Language proficiency modulates the engagement of cognitive control areas in multilinguals. Cortex, 49, 905–1011.Google Scholar
Abutalebi, J., Della Rosa, P. A., Green, D. W., Hernandez, M., Scifo, P., Keim, R., Cappa, S. F., & Costa, A. (2012). Bilingualism tunes the anterior cingulate cortex for conflict monitoring. Cerebral Cortex, 22, 2076–2086.Google Scholar
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. W. (2007).Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 20, 242–275.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., & Luk, G. (2008). Cognitive control and lexical access in younger and older bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34, 859–873.Google ScholarPubMed
Botvinick, M. M., Braver, T. S., Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). Conflict monitoring and cognitive control. Psychological Review, 108, 624–652.Google Scholar
Botvinick, M. M., Cohen, J. D., & Carter, C. S. (2004). Conflict monitoring and anterior cingulate cortex: An update. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 539–546.Google Scholar
Calabria, M., Hernandez, M., Branzi, F. M., & Costa, A. (2011). Qualitative differences between bilingual language control and executive control: Evidence from task-switching. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 399.Google Scholar
Costa, A., & Santesteban, M. (2004). Lexical access in bilingual speech production: Evidence from language switching in highly proficient bilinguals and L2 learners. Journal of Memory and Language, 50, 491–511.Google Scholar
Costa, A., Santesteban, M., & Ivanova, I. (2006). How do highly proficient bilinguals control their lexicalization process? Inhibitory and language-specific selection mechanisms are both functional. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32, 1057–1074.Google Scholar
Cousineau, D., Brown, S., & Heathcote, A. (2004). Fitting distributions using maximum likelihood: Methods and packages. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 742–756.Google Scholar
Forster, K. I., & Forster, J. C. (2003). DMDX: A windows display program with millisecond accuracy. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 35, 116–124.Google Scholar
Garbin, G., Costa, A., Sanjuan, A., Forn, C., Rodriguez-Pujadas, A., Ventura, N., Belloch, V., Hernandez, M., & Ávila, C. (2011). Neural bases of language switching in high and early proficient bilinguals. Brain and Language, 119, 129–135.Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., & Ferreira, V. S. (2009). Should I stay or should I switch? A cost-benefit analysis of voluntary language switching in young and aging bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 640–665.Google ScholarPubMed
Gollan, T. H., Sandoval, T., & Salmon, D. P. (2011). Cross-language intrusion errors in aging bilinguals reveal the link between executive control and language selection. Psychological Science, 22, 1155–1164.Google Scholar
Green, D. W. (1986). Control, activation, and resource: A framework and a model for the control of speech in bilinguals. Brain and Language, 27, 210–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, D. W. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1, 67–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenwood, P. M. (2000). The frontal aging hypothesis evaluated. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 6, 705–726.Google Scholar
Hernandez, A. E., Dapretto, M., Mazziotta, J., & Bookheimer, S. (2001). Language switching and language representation in Spanish–English bilinguals: An fMRI study. NeuroImage, 14, 510–520.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hernandez, A. E., & Khonert, K. (1999). Aging and language switching in bilinguals. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 6, 69–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hervais-Adelman, A. G., Moser-Mercer, B., & Golestani, N. (2011). Executive control of language in the bilingual brain: Integrating the evidence from neuroimaging to neuropsychology. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 234.Google Scholar
Koch, I., Gade, M., Schuch, S., & Philipp, A. M. (2010). The role of inhibition in task switching: A review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17, 1–14.Google Scholar
Magezi, D. A., Khateb, A., Mouthon, M., Spierer, L., & Annoni, J. M. (2012). Cognitive control of language production in bilinguals involves a partly independent process within the domain-general cognitive control network: Evidence from task-switching and electrical brain activity. Brain and Language, 122, 55–63.Google Scholar
Martin, C. D., Barcelo, F., Hernandez, M., & Costa, A. (2011). The time course of the asymmetrical “local” switch cost: Evidence from event-related potentials. Biological Psychology, 86, 210–218.Google Scholar
Matzke, D., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2009). Psychological interpretation of the ex-Gaussian and shifted Wald parameters: A diffusion model analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin Review, 16, 798–817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meuter, R. F. I., & Allport, A. (1999). Bilingual language switching in naming: Asymmetrical costs of language selection. Journal of Memory and Language, 40, 25–40.Google Scholar
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., & Howerter, A. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “Frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100.Google Scholar
Penner-Wilger, M., Leth-Steensen, C., & LeFevre, J. A. (2002). Decomposing the problem-size effect: A comparison of response time distributions across cultures. Memory and Cognition, 30, 1160–1167.Google Scholar
Prior, A., & Gollan, T. H. (2011). Good language-switchers are good task-switchers: Evidence from Spanish–English and Mandarin–English bilinguals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17, 682–691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Protopapas, A. (2007). CheckVocal: A program to facilitate checking the accuracy and response time of vocal responses from DMDX. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 859–862.Google Scholar
Reimers, S., & Maylor, E. A. (2005). Task switching across the life span: Effects of age on general and specific switch costs. Developmental Psychology, 41, 661–671.Google Scholar
Rhodes, M. G. (2004). Age-related differences in performance on the Wisconsin card sorting test: A meta-analytic review. Psychology and Aging, 19, 482–494.Google Scholar
Roelofs, A., & Piai, V. (2011). Attention demands of spoken word planning: A review. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 307.Google Scholar
Schmiedek, F., Oberauer, K., Wilhelm, O., Suss, H. M., & Wittmann, W. W. (2007). Individual differences in components of reaction time distributions and their relations to working memory and intelligence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 414–429.Google Scholar
Snodgrass, J. G., & Vanderwart, M. (1980). A standardized set of 260 pictures: Norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6, 174–215.Google Scholar
Soveri, A., Rodriguez-Fornells, A., & Laine, M. (2011). Is there a relationship between language switching and executive functions in bilingualism? Introducing a within-group analysis approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spieler, D. H., Balota, D. A., & Faust, M. E. (1996). Stroop performance in healthy younger and older adults and in individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human, Perception and Performance, 22, 461–479.Google Scholar
Strijkers, K., Holcomb, P., & Costa, A. (2011). Conscious intention to speak proactively facilitates lexical access during overt object naming. Journal of Memory and Language, 65, 345–362.Google Scholar
Tisserand, D. J., & Jolles, J. (2003). On the involvement of prefrontal networks in cognitive ageing. Cortex, 39, 1107–1128.Google Scholar
Verhaeghen, P., & Cerella, J. (2002). Aging, executive control, and attention: A review of meta-analyses. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 849–857.Google Scholar
Verhaeghen, P., Steitz, D. W., Sliwinski, M. J., & Cerella, J. (2003). Aging and dual-task performance: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 18, 443–460.Google Scholar
Wasylyshyn, C., Verhaeghen, P., & Sliwinski, M. J. (2011). Aging and task switching: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 26, 15–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissberger, G. H., Wierenga, C. E., Bondi, M. W., & Gollan, T. H. (2012). Partially overlapping mechanisms of language and task control in young and older bilinguals. Psychology and Aging, 27, 959–974.Google Scholar
Ye, Z., & Zhou, X. (2009). Executive control in language processing. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 33, 1168–1177.Google Scholar