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Adibnia F, Akbari Chermahini S. Comparison of Cognitive Inhibition in Monolingual and Bilingual Students. LRR 2020; 11 (4) :1-23
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-30455-en.html
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-30455-en.html
1- Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology, Department of Psychology, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran , f.adibnia@edu.ui.ac.ir
2- Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Arak University, Arak, Iran
2- Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Arak University, Arak, Iran
Abstract: (3923 Views)
In cognitive linguistics, language is considered part of human cognitive abilities, and any linguistic analysis is accompanied by an analysis of human cognitive abilities. One of the human cognitive abilities is cognitive inhibition. The aim of this study was to compare cognitive inhibition in bilingual students and monolingual students. The research question is whether there is a significant difference between cognitive inhibition in bilingual and monolingual students?
The present study is a descriptive causal-comparative study. In this study, cognitive inhibition (performance in numerical stroop test) was compared between two groups of bilingual and monolingual students. The statistical population of the present study included all secondary school students in Qazvin. The sample group consisted of 90 students (45 Persian monolingual students and 45 Turkish-Persian and Kurdish-Persian bilingual students) who were selected by purposive sampling method. A demographic questionnaire and numerical stroop test were used to collect information. A demographic questionnaire and numerical stroop test were used to collect information. Due to the lack of complete cooperation of some sample people in answering the numerical strop test, the number of sample people was reduced to 39 monolingual students and 43 bilingual students.
Despite the attention of many researchers to cognitive inhibition, understanding and access to the true concept of cognitive inhibition is complex. Two strategies have been used to study cognitive processes: self-report techniques (interview and questionnaire) and the use of empirical-cognitive models. Interviews and questionnaires assess only aspects of cognition that can be verbalized, and such data can only provide relative support for cognitive models of disorders.
The existence of such problems in interviews and questionnaires has increased the use of empirical concepts and patterns. The Stroop test is one of the most effective tools that studies cognitive inhibition and selective attention in a practical way and its results are extracted directly from the individual's performance. The test was named after John Ridley Stroop (1935), who invented the color version of the test. Since then, various forms of this test such as directional stroop, odor and taste stroop, numerical stroop, shape strokes & etc have been made and used. In the present study, to measure cognitive inhibition used the numerical stroop .The Persian version of this test was made by the researcher (the first author of the present study). The reliability of the test was 86% using the retest method on 100 subjects.
The numerical stroop test consists of 96 numeric pairs, of which 48 pairs are used for physical comparison and 48 pairs are used for numerical comparison. In the 48 pairs on which the physical comparison is performed, 16 pairs of inconsistent numbers, 16 pairs of consonants and 16 pairs of numbers are neutral, and in the 48 pairs on which the numerical comparison is performed, the same order of properties is established. The subject's task is to select the number that is larger in terms of physical size in the physical comparison section and the number that is larger in terms of numerical value in the numerical comparison section.
The output of the numerical stroop test includes pairs of numbers to be compared, reaction time, subject selection, correct or incorrect answer, and type of comparison (physical comparison and numerical comparison). In order to determine the Stroop effect, the interference score is calculated by calculating the difference between the reaction time to the consonant and inconsistent numbers. Using this test, the effect of numerical stroop and the effect of physical stroop can be calculated. The larger stroop effect indicates greater interference and a lower level of cognitive inhibition.
Multivariate analysis of variance was used to measure the difference between the effect of numerical and physical stroop in bilingual and monolingual students. The results showed that there was a significant difference between bilingual and monolingual students in the numerical stroop effect and the physical stroop effect. There is a significant difference in cognitive inhibition performance between the two groups and according to the mean, monolingual students have poorer performance in cognitive inhibition.
This result is in line with the findings of Bialystok and et al. (2005), Carlson and Meltzoff (2008), Bialystok and Viswanthan (2009), Prior and Macwhinney (2020), Cushen and Wiley (2011), Poulin-Dubois et al. (2011) and Blumenfeld and Marian (2011) are consistent. In these studies, it has been concluded that the performance of bilinguals in cognitive activities such as cognitive control, flexibility and cognitive inhibition is better than monolinguals.
Cognitive inhibition involves the ability to switch between sets of responses. Bilingual students have a stronger central performer. Because more linguistic information in bilinguals is constantly challenged and acted upon, they perform better in suppressing interference with a stimulus that competes with the initial response, and are better at controlling disturbances from different tasks.
It can be said that bilinguals use more effective cognitive strategies in dealing with problems because they speak a variety of languages. The interaction of languages can be considered as a factor that confronts the bilingual person with situations that he learns to use more appropriate cognitive strategies, and these strategies improve their cognitive performance. Also, the ability of symbolic substitution in different forms causes the superiority of bilinguals in cognitive function and this effect is due to the interaction and interrelationship of two languages. Thus, because in bilinguals both languages are mutually active and have common representational regions in the brain, bilinguals have a greater ability to inhibit and selectively pay attention to cognitive processes.
The present study is a descriptive causal-comparative study. In this study, cognitive inhibition (performance in numerical stroop test) was compared between two groups of bilingual and monolingual students. The statistical population of the present study included all secondary school students in Qazvin. The sample group consisted of 90 students (45 Persian monolingual students and 45 Turkish-Persian and Kurdish-Persian bilingual students) who were selected by purposive sampling method. A demographic questionnaire and numerical stroop test were used to collect information. A demographic questionnaire and numerical stroop test were used to collect information. Due to the lack of complete cooperation of some sample people in answering the numerical strop test, the number of sample people was reduced to 39 monolingual students and 43 bilingual students.
Despite the attention of many researchers to cognitive inhibition, understanding and access to the true concept of cognitive inhibition is complex. Two strategies have been used to study cognitive processes: self-report techniques (interview and questionnaire) and the use of empirical-cognitive models. Interviews and questionnaires assess only aspects of cognition that can be verbalized, and such data can only provide relative support for cognitive models of disorders.
The existence of such problems in interviews and questionnaires has increased the use of empirical concepts and patterns. The Stroop test is one of the most effective tools that studies cognitive inhibition and selective attention in a practical way and its results are extracted directly from the individual's performance. The test was named after John Ridley Stroop (1935), who invented the color version of the test. Since then, various forms of this test such as directional stroop, odor and taste stroop, numerical stroop, shape strokes & etc have been made and used. In the present study, to measure cognitive inhibition used the numerical stroop .The Persian version of this test was made by the researcher (the first author of the present study). The reliability of the test was 86% using the retest method on 100 subjects.
The numerical stroop test consists of 96 numeric pairs, of which 48 pairs are used for physical comparison and 48 pairs are used for numerical comparison. In the 48 pairs on which the physical comparison is performed, 16 pairs of inconsistent numbers, 16 pairs of consonants and 16 pairs of numbers are neutral, and in the 48 pairs on which the numerical comparison is performed, the same order of properties is established. The subject's task is to select the number that is larger in terms of physical size in the physical comparison section and the number that is larger in terms of numerical value in the numerical comparison section.
The output of the numerical stroop test includes pairs of numbers to be compared, reaction time, subject selection, correct or incorrect answer, and type of comparison (physical comparison and numerical comparison). In order to determine the Stroop effect, the interference score is calculated by calculating the difference between the reaction time to the consonant and inconsistent numbers. Using this test, the effect of numerical stroop and the effect of physical stroop can be calculated. The larger stroop effect indicates greater interference and a lower level of cognitive inhibition.
Multivariate analysis of variance was used to measure the difference between the effect of numerical and physical stroop in bilingual and monolingual students. The results showed that there was a significant difference between bilingual and monolingual students in the numerical stroop effect and the physical stroop effect. There is a significant difference in cognitive inhibition performance between the two groups and according to the mean, monolingual students have poorer performance in cognitive inhibition.
This result is in line with the findings of Bialystok and et al. (2005), Carlson and Meltzoff (2008), Bialystok and Viswanthan (2009), Prior and Macwhinney (2020), Cushen and Wiley (2011), Poulin-Dubois et al. (2011) and Blumenfeld and Marian (2011) are consistent. In these studies, it has been concluded that the performance of bilinguals in cognitive activities such as cognitive control, flexibility and cognitive inhibition is better than monolinguals.
Cognitive inhibition involves the ability to switch between sets of responses. Bilingual students have a stronger central performer. Because more linguistic information in bilinguals is constantly challenged and acted upon, they perform better in suppressing interference with a stimulus that competes with the initial response, and are better at controlling disturbances from different tasks.
It can be said that bilinguals use more effective cognitive strategies in dealing with problems because they speak a variety of languages. The interaction of languages can be considered as a factor that confronts the bilingual person with situations that he learns to use more appropriate cognitive strategies, and these strategies improve their cognitive performance. Also, the ability of symbolic substitution in different forms causes the superiority of bilinguals in cognitive function and this effect is due to the interaction and interrelationship of two languages. Thus, because in bilinguals both languages are mutually active and have common representational regions in the brain, bilinguals have a greater ability to inhibit and selectively pay attention to cognitive processes.
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