Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions:

The study investigated whether language experience predicts cognitive performance in bilingual and monolingual adults. As indicators of language experience, we focused on language context, typological proximity/distance between two languages and onset age of active bilingualism. As indicators of cognitive performance, we measured mixing costs and switching costs to gauge proactive and reactive control processes during a computerized non-verbal cognitive control task.

Design/methodology/approach:

Demographic and language data were collected with the Language and Social Background Questionnaire. Mixing and switching costs were subsequently obtained using a cued non-verbal switching task.

Data and analysis:

The background and switching-task data obtained from 60 bilinguals from non-English-speaking backgrounds and 24 English monolinguals residing in Australia were analysed using linear fixed-effects regression analyses.

Findings/conclusions:

The results showed that the use of two languages in a dual-language context was associated with reduced switching costs relative to monolingual and bilingual separated-language contexts and with reduced mixing costs only relative to a bilingual separated-language context. Among the bilinguals, lower mixing costs were also associated with an earlier onset age of active bilingualism and smaller typological distance between two languages.

Originality:

This study’s design included bilinguals as a target group and monolinguals as a control group, thus enabling the identification of possible mixing and/or switching cost advantages in bilinguals. By targeting young/middle-aged adults and considering a set of potentially relevant language experiences, this work was, therefore, well placed to provide clarity on findings for an age group that previously returned mixed and inconclusive results regarding a bilingual advantage.

Significance/implications:

Our findings reinforce the idea that particular dimensions of bilingual experience rather than bilingualism per se are linked to enhanced cognitive performance.

中文翻译：

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双语者和单语者在非语言认知控制任务上的表现：双语语言体验如何通过减少混合和转换成本来促进认知表现

目的和宗旨/目的/研究问题：

这项研究调查了语言经验是否可以预测双语和单语成年人的认知能力。作为语言体验的指标，我们专注于语言环境，两种语言之间的类型学上的接近/距离以及活跃的双语制的起始年龄。作为认知表现的指标，我们测量了混合成本和转换成本，以评估计算机化非语言认知控制任务中的主动和被动控制过程。

设计/方法/方法：

人口和语言数据是通过语言和社会背景调查表收集的。随后使用提示的非语言转换任务获得混合和转换成本。

数据与分析：

使用线性固定效应回归分析，分析了来自60位来自非英语背景的双语者和24位居住在澳大利亚的英语单语者的背景和切换任务数据。

结果/结论：

结果表明，相对于单语和双语分隔语言上下文，在双语环境中使用两种语言与降低转换成本相关，并且仅相对于双语分隔语言上下文，与降低混合成本相关。在双语者中，较低的混合费用还与主动双语的发病年龄较早和两种语言之间的类型学距离较小有关。

独创性：

本研究的设计将双语者作为目标组，将双语者作为对照组，因此能够确定双语者可能的混合和/或转换成本优势。因此，通过针对年轻人/中年成年人并考虑一系列可能相关的语言经验，可以很好地为这项工作提供清晰的信息，以明确以前针对双语优势得出的混合和不确定性结果的年龄组的发现。

意义/含义：

我们的发现强化了这样一种观念，即双语经验而非双语本身的特定维度本身与增强的认知能力有关。