Do the bilinguals have better level of conflict monitoring?

Yu Rui, Tao Yun, Zhu Xiaoyuan, Tian Tao

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (3) : 522-529.

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PDF(364 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (3) : 522-529.

Do the bilinguals have better level of conflict monitoring?

  • Yu Rui1,2, Tao Yun1, Zhu Xiaoyuan1, Tian Tao1
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Abstract

Conflict monitoring is the system responsible for processing conflict information in the cognitive control system and it is also the basis and premise of cognitive control, which contains the process of conflict detection and resolution. Language, as the most enduring and integrated experience of human engagement, most likely shapes the structure and cognitive abilities of the brain. In recent years, the influence and shaping of bilingual experience on human cognition is a popular research field in cognitive psychology, and the related researches have been greatly increased in both quantity and diversity. To explore the effect of bilingual experience on conflict monitoring or cognitive control, researchers have constructed different theoretical models, which include Inhibitory Control Model, Conflict Monitoring Theory, Adaptive Control Hypothesis, Bilingual Anterior to Posterior and Subcortical Shift Model, and Executive Attention Model. Conflict tasks such as Flanker, Simon, Stroop and ANT tasks are often used as experimental tasks in this field, including consistency conditions and inconsistency conditions. In addition to reaction time and error rate, the indicators also examine the conflict monitoring level include the conflict effect and the consistent sequence effect. At present, whether there exists a “bilingual advantage” in conflict monitoring has aroused heated discussion among researchers. Numerous studies have proved the positive impact of bilingual experience on conflict monitoring. In recent years, many studies have further validated better conflict monitoring performance for bilinguals under certain qualified conditions. These limitations include high monitoring context, appropriate age, high L2 proficiency, interference suppression tasks and lower education level. However, another opinion is that the bilinguals have no superior performance in conflict monitoring. The “bilingual advantage” found by many studies may be due to the following reasons: confusion of demographic variables, uncertainty in the direction of causality, publication bias, statistical problems, and so on. On the one hand, the existence of these arguments demonstrates the complexity of the impact of language on cognitive function. On the other hand, previous studies show that there still exist so many problems to be solved, such as ambiguous differences between groups, too simple experimental tasks and different research methods, which may be part of the reasons for the differences in results. Investigation of this issue is an important verification of the hypothesis of brain plasticity, and an important exploration of language functionality. Therefore, it is necessary to continue the inquiry to obtain more definitive conclusions. Future researches can change trains of thoughts, no longer focus on verifying bilingual advantages, and explore the problem from the perspective that bilingual experience may affect the conflict monitoring function. In future, we should be under the guidance of theoretical models with richer connotation to adopt more longitudinal research. Besides, on the basis of the scientific division of the monolinguals and the bilinguals, we should take language similarity issue into account, and set a task paradigm that can reflect a higher cognitive level for further exploration the impact of bilingual experience on conflict monitoring function.

Key words

bilingual experience / conflict monitoring / cognitive control / bilingual advantage

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Yu Rui, Tao Yun, Zhu Xiaoyuan, Tian Tao. Do the bilinguals have better level of conflict monitoring?[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2023, 46(3): 522-529
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