Monolingual versus Bilingual Brains: The Executive Function Evaluation

Abstract

This study is an evaluation of whether bilingual versus monolingual individuals perform better on tasks that tap executive function, working memory and visual spatial abilities. Participants were undergraduate and graduate students who were either English speaking monolinguals or English-Spanish speaking bilinguals. They participated in a series of assessments that evaluated non-linguistic performance, verbal fluency and visual spatial executive function. Previous literature has suggested that bilinguals outperform monolinguals on tasks of executive function. However, some research has shown bilinguals perform poorly on tasks of verbal memory with no observed differences on processing speed tasks, such as simple reaction time. This study hypothesized that bilinguals have an executive function advantage over monolinguals and will outperform monolinguals on tasks that assess working memory and cognitive flexibility. Additionally, it is hypothesized that monolinguals will outperform bilinguals on a task of verbal fluency. Results indicated that monolingual participants performed better on both executive functioning and verbal fluency tasks.