This study explored differences in sustained top-down attentional control (i.e., proactive control) and spontaneous types of control (i.e., reactive control) in bilingual and monolingual speakers. We modified a Color-Word Stroop task to varying levels of conflict and included switching trials in addition to more “traditional” inhibition Stroop conditions. The task was administered during scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to evaluate the temporal course of cognitive control during trials. The behavioral Stroop effect was observed across the whole sample; however, there were no differences in accuracy or response time between the bilingual and monolingual groups. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were calculated for the N200, N450, and conflict Sustained Potential (SP). On the pure-blocked incongruent trials, the bilingual group displayed reduced signal during interference suppression (N450) and increased later signal, as indexed by the conflict SP. On the mixed-block incongruent trials, both the bilinguals and monolinguals displayed increased later signal at the conflict SP. This suggests that proactive control may be a default mode for bilinguals on tasks requiring inhibition. In the switching trials, that place high demands on the executive control component of shifting, the language groups did not differ. Overall, these results suggest processing differences between bilinguals and monolinguals extend beyond early response inhibition processes. Greater integration of proactive and reactive control may be needed to sort conflicting language environments for bilinguals, which may be transferring to domain-general mechanisms.

中文翻译：

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双语和单语反应和主动控制的时间级联的神经差异

本研究探讨了双语和单语使用者中持续自上而下的注意力控制（即主动控制）和自发控制类型（即反应控制）的​​差异。我们修改了 Color-Word Stroop 任务以适应不同程度的冲突，除了更“传统”的抑制 Stroop 条件外，还包括转换试验。该任务在头皮脑电图 (EEG) 期间进行，以评估试验期间认知控制的时间过程。在整个样本中观察到行为 Stroop 效应；然而，双语组和单语组之间的准确性或响应时间没有差异。计算了 N200、N450 和冲突持续电位 (SP) 的事件相关电位 (ERP)。在纯封闭的不一致试验中，双语组在干扰抑制 (N450) 期间显示信号减弱，后期信号增强，如冲突 SP 所索引。在混合块不一致试验中，双语者和单语者在冲突 SP 处都显示出增加的后期信号。这表明主动控制可能是双语者在需要抑制的任务上的默认模式。在转换试验中，对转换的执行控制部分提出了很高的要求，语言组没有差异。总体而言，这些结果表明双语者和单语者之间的处理差异超出了早期反应抑制过程。可能需要更好地整合主动和被动控制来对双语者的冲突语言环境进行分类，这可能正在转移到领域通用机制。