Executive functioning encompasses all the cognitive processes that are involved in conscious thought and action (Anderson, 2002). Research in bilingualism has suggested that those who know a second language have certain advantages in these cognitive processes (Bialystok, Craik, Green, & Gollan, 2009). However, it has also been suggested that those who learn their second language after the age of six (late bilinguals) do not demonstrate the same cognitive attention control benefits as early bilinguals (Kalia, Wilbourn & Ghio, 2014). The purpose of this study is to further investigate the possibility that individuals learning their second language in college may not reap the same cognitive benefits as those who learned their second language early in development. This will be done by comparing the selective attention (Selective Attention Task, Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002) and cognitive flexibility (Trail Making Task, Bucks, 2013) of late bilinguals (those learning a second language in college) and monolinguals of the same age. I predict that bilinguals and monolinguals will perform similarly on the selective attention task, but that bilinguals will perform better and will be faster than monolinguals on the cognitive flexibility task. Not only will this study contribute to my own knowledge and understanding of bilingualism research, it will also contribute to the fields of cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, and education by highlighting striking cognitive advantages to knowing a second language that might positively influence performance in school and in other aspects of daily life.
Author: Juliana Rizzo
Faculty Advisors: Vrinda Kalia, Department of Psychology
Niki Hayatbini, Department of Psychology
Katherine Knauft, Department of Psychology
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