Article published In:
Bilingualism and Executive Function: An interdisciplinary approachEdited by Irina A. Sekerina and Lauren Spradlin
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6:5] 2016
► pp. 535–548
Edited by Irina A. Sekerina and Lauren Spradlin
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6:5] 2016
► pp. 535–548
Research on individual differences in executive functions
Implications for the bilingual advantage hypothesis
Executive functions (EFs), such as response inhibition, interference control, and set shifting, are general-purpose control mechanisms that enable individuals to regulate their thoughts and behaviors. Because bilingual individuals use EF-like processes during language control, researchers have become interested in the hypothesis that this use might train EFs, resulting in better performance on non-linguistic EF tasks. Although this bilingual advantage hypothesis seems straightforward to test, it involves a number of important decisions in terms of how to assess bilingualism and EFs. In this article, I focus on the complexity of measuring EFs, drawing on individual differences research (conducted with participants not selected for bilingualism). Specifically, I discuss issues related to (1) the measurement of EFs (particularly the effects of task impurity and unreliability) and (2) the multicomponent nature of EFs. Within each of these topics, I elaborate on consequences for research on bilingual advantages and provide some recommendations.
Article outline
- 1.Measuring EFs
- 1.1Individual tasks
- 1.2Latent variables
- 1.3Recommendations
- 2.Multi-component nature of EFs
- 2.1Unity and diversity
- 2.2No inhibition-specific ability
- 2.3Recommendations
- 3.Summary
- Acknowledgments
-
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