Bilingual Language Experience and Its Effect on Conflict Adaptation in Reactive Inhibitory Control Tasks

Abstract

We used machine-learning techniques to assess interactions between language and cognitive systems related to inhibitory control and conflict adaptation in reactive control tasks. We built theoretically driven candidate models of Simon and Number Stroop task data ( N = 777 adult bilinguals ages 18–43 years living in Montréal, Canada) that differed in whether bilingual experience interacted with inhibitory control, including two forms of conflict adaptation: shorter term sequential congruency effects and longer term trial order effects. Models with continuous aspects of bilingual experience provided signal in predicting new, unmodeled data. Specifically, mixed language usage predicted trial order adaptation to conflict. This effect was restricted to Number Stroop, which overtly involves linguistic or symbolic information and relatively higher language- and response-related uncertainty. These results suggest that bilingual experience adaptively tunes aspects of the control system and offers a novel integrative modeling approach that can be used to pursue other complex individual difference questions within the psychological sciences.

Language diversity across home and work contexts differentially impacts age- and menopause-related declines in cognitive control in healthy females.

“…Notably, the current findings may not generalize to other bilingual phenotypes (Beatty-Martínez & Titone, 2021) who may differ in terms of the communicative demands they face. Interactional effects on cognitive control have been observed previously in young adult bilinguals in linguistically diverse contexts requiring proactive monitoring of the appropriateness of using each of their languages (Gullifer et al, 2018, 2023; Gullifer & Titone, 2021). The current findings add a further dimension to this discussion by demonstrating that females, who are most vulnerable to age- and menopause-related changes in cognitive control, may compensate for cognitive declines by virtue of adapting to the externally imposed demands of the language environment.…”

Are language–cognition interactions bigger than a breadbox? Integrative modeling and design space thinking temper simplistic questions about causally dense phenomena

“…Indeed, much of our field has moved into this post-20-questions phase of inquiry (e.g., Navarro-Torres, Beatty-Martínez, Kroll, & Green, 2021), and now investigates the links between individual differences among bilinguals and a variety of performance outcomes (e.g., Wagner, Bekas, & Bialystok, 2023). As one example, our group developed new tools and methods for capturing nuanced differences among bilinguals (language entropy, social network analysis), including analytic approaches (e.g., machine-learning approaches such as leave one out cross-validation) that distinguish explanation and prediction, referred to in the target article (Gullifer, Pivneva, Whitford, Sheikh, & Titone, 2023; Gullifer & Titone, 2021; see also Hofman et al, 2021).…”

Observation of conflict triggers conflict adaptation.

“…Liu et al, 2018; M. Zhang et al, 2023), Simon (Feroz et al, 2017; Kerns, 2006; Lee & Cho, 2023), and their variations (Egner, 2007; Gullifer et al, 2023; Kałamała et al, 2020; Kar et al, 2019; Oren et al, 2023; Rey-Mermet et al, 2019; Weissman, 2019, 2020; Weissman et al, 2015). Furthermore, this theory has also directly supported by lots of neuroimaging evidence (Kerns et al, 2004; Larson et al, 2009; Li et al, 2021; T.…”