Researchers have argued that grouping heterogeneous linguistic profiles under a dichotomous condition might mask the cognitive effects of bilingualism. The current study used two different analysis approaches (i.e., continuous versus dichotomous) to examine inhibitory control in a sample of 239 young adult bilinguals. Dividing the sample into dichotomous groups based on L2 proficiency (i.e., high-proficient versus low-proficient) and L2 AoA (i.e., early versus late) did not lead to reliable group differences in any of the measurements used. However, the use of a continuous measure revealed that higher L2 proficiency predicted better visual inhibition and earlier L2 AoA was associated with better auditory inhibition. Furthermore, the observed differences were limited to tasks involving stimulus–stimulus competition, but not stimulus–response competition. These findings shed new light on the importance of conceptualising bilingualism as a continuous measure rather than a dichotomous measure and previous research on bilingual performance in different cognitive tasks.

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study investigated the effect of the specific L2 learning experience (i.e., usage, proficiency, and exposure) on cognitive performance in 121 Chinese learners of English.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The participants were divided into three groups: beginning, intermediate, and advanced learners. They are homogeneous in background variables (e.g., cultural and educational environment) but heterogeneous in the L2 language experience. They performed three non-linguistic cognitive tasks, tapping into multiple dimensions of cognitive functions in visual and auditory domains.

Data and Analysis: Linear mixed-effect models were applied to RT-based analysis (i.e., analysis based on Reaction Time), and linear regression models were used for accuracy-based analysis. In addition, further multiple stepwise regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationships between individuals’ demographics, language experience, and their performance on the attentional tasks.

Findings/Conclusions: Three groups were comparable in background measures (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES]) and fundamental cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory and IQ), but differed in specific subcomponents of cognitive functions. Specifically, compared with beginning learners, advanced learners who had a longer length of L2 usage and higher proficiency showed better inhibitory control; intermediate learners who received intensive L2 exposure and had higher proficiency showed better-switching ability and attentional disengagement. Intermediate and advanced learners were comparable in cognitive performance. The results suggest that early adulthood L2 learners experience similar cognitive effects of bilingualism, which are modulated by specific language experience.

Originality: This is one of the first bilingual studies to incorporate both visual and auditory cognitive functions, while providing additional analyses to investigate the other components of cognitive control.

Significance/Implications: The results contribute to the understanding of the key aspects of the L2 learning experience that contribute to the emergence of the cognitive effects of young adult learners.

Aim: This study investigates the effects of degree of multilingualism on cognitive functions in adulthood, with focus on episodic memory recall and including measures of verbal fluency as well as global cognition.

Design: We studied a large population-based cohort cross-sectionally, and we also assessed changes over time through longitudinal measurements on four time-points over a 15 year period. Participants were drawn from the Betula prospective cohort study in Umeå, Sweden. The participants included in this study at baseline (n = 894, mean age = 51.44, 59.4% females) were divided according to number of languages into bilinguals (n = 395), trilinguals (n = 284), quadrilinguals (n = 169), and pentalinguals (n = 46).

Data and analysis: We analysed performance on tasks of episodic memory recall, verbal fluency (letter and category) and global cognition (Minimental State Examination, MMSE) both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The control background variables were baseline age, gender, years of education, general fluid ability Gf (Wechsler Block Design Test), and socioeconomic status. We employed a linear mixed modelling approach with entropy balancing weights to assess effects of degree of multilingualism on cognitive functions.

Findings and conclusions: Using bilinguals as the reference group, our results indicated that all the other multilingual groups exhibited superior performance on episodic memory recall than bilinguals at baseline. The rate of change over time did not differ for trilinguals and pentalinguals compared to bilinguals. While quadrilinguals declined more over time than bilinguals, they still scored significantly higher than bilinguals at the last test wave. For letter fluency, similarly, all language groups scored higher than bilinguals at baseline, and none of the groups differed from bilinguals in rate of change over time. With regard to category fluency, quadrilinguals scored higher than bilinguals at baseline, but trilinguals and pentalinguals did not differ from bilinguals and none of the groups differed in change over time compared to bilinguals. Finally, for global cognition (MMSE), trilinguals and quadrilinguals scored significantly higher than bilinguals at baseline with no differences in change over time for any of the groups relative to bilinguals. Our study contributes to the understanding of multilingual cognition and sheds light into an under-researched cognitive domain known to decline in normal ageing, namely episodic memory recall.

Significance: Our study emphasizes the importance of researching less explored aspects of multilingualism on cognition, in particular on episodic memory recall, to aid our understanding of factors that could potentially aid cognitive decline in later adulthood.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) impact distraction by unexpected deviant sounds and vibrations. The hypothesis was that there would be a difference between individuals with low and high ADHD symptom severity in deviance distraction. In a cross-modal oddball task, we measured the impact of to-be-ignored deviating auditory and vibro-tactile stimuli in 45 adults who were 18 years or older, and self-reported ADHD symptoms using the screening tool of the adult ADHD self-report scale (ASRS). Results did not show a difference between groups with low and high symptoms of ADHD in their propensity for distraction in any modality using both frequentist and Bayesian methods of analysis. The impact of the deviating sounds and vibrations on performance were similar between groups. However, the amount of missed trials, which possibly reflects mind wandering or attention away from the focal task, was higher in the high symptom group (0.5 % difference in missing data between groups). The findings indicate a difference in missed responses between groups, despite no differences in the likelihood of distraction being indicated between vibro-tactile and auditory modalities. Overall, the complexity of adult ADHD symptomatology, especially behavioral differences in attentional control is reflected in the results of this study.

Background: A body of research from around the world has reported positive effects of bilingualism on cognitive ageing and dementia. However, little is known about whether foreign language learning could be applied as an intervention for people already living with dementia. Yet, before it is possible to determine the efficacy of language courses as an intervention for people living with dementia (PLWD), it is necessary to establish whether such an intervention is feasible. Our study explored this possibility. Methods: We conducted an exploratory study to examine the feasibility and tolerability of 2-week Italian beginner courses for PLWD in early stages and their family carers in two Scottish Dementia Resource Centres (DRCs). The courses were delivered by trained tutors from Lingo Flamingo, a social enterprise specialising in language teaching for older learners and learners with dementia. Twelve PLWD and seven carers participated in the study. Focus groups preceded and followed the courses. Additional post-course open interviews with the DRC managers were conducted, with a follow-up via telephone approximately one year later. Results: Qualitative content analysis resulted in 12 themes, 5 reflected in the interview schedule and 7 arising from the focus groups and interviews. Overall, the courses were perceived positively by PLWD, carers, and DRC managers, although a few logistically and linguistically challenging aspects were also mentioned. The courses were found to positively impact both the individual by increasing self-esteem and producing a sense of accomplishment as well as the group by creating a sense of community. Notably, no adverse effects (in particular no confusion or frustration) were reported. Conclusion: The positive outcomes of our study open a novel avenue for future research to explore foreign language training in dementia as an intervention and its implications.

In two structural priming experiments, we investigated the representations of lexically-specific syntactic restrictions of English verbs for highly proficient and immersed second language (L2) speakers of English. We considered the interplay of two possible mechanisms: generalization from the first language (L1) and statistical learning within the L2 (both of abstract structure and of lexically-specific information). In both experiments, L2 speakers with either Germanic or Romance languages as L1 were primed to produce dispreferred double-object structures involving non-alternating dative verbs. Priming occurred from ungrammatical double-object primes involving different non-alternating verbs (Experiment 1) and from grammatical primes involving alternating verbs (Experiment 2), supporting abstract statistical learning within the L2. However, we found no differences between L1-Germanic speakers (who have the double-object structure in their L1) and L1-Romance speakers (who do not), inconsistent with the prediction for between-group differences of the L1-generalization account. Additionally, L2 speakers in Experiment 2 showed a lexical boost: There was stronger priming after (dispreferred) non-alternating same-verb double-object primes than after (grammatical) alternating different-verb primes. Such lexically-driven persistence was also shown by L1 English speakers (Ivanova, Pickering, McLean, Costa, & Branigan, 2012) and may underlie statistical learning of lexically-dependent structural regularities. We conclude that lexically-specific syntactic restrictions in highly proficient and immersed L2 speakers are shaped by statistical learning (both abstract and lexically-specific) within the L2, but not by generalization from the L1.

The current study examined cognitive effects of two pathways of second language (L2) acquisition longitudinally in Chinese speakers learning English in an L2-dominant environment. Thirty-nine participants who attended an intensive 10-week English course (L2-instruction group) were compared to 38 participants who attended regular university courses taught in English (L2-immersion group). Four repeated assessments were conducted over 10 weeks: precourse (baseline) and postcourse assessments, and two interim assessments every 3 weeks. Both groups matched on background variables (e.g., intelligence) and showed comparable cognitive performance in all measures at the baseline. The longitudinal results showed a similar improvement in both groups for most cognitive measures, such as visual and auditory inhibition. The only significant group difference was observed in the auditory inhibition test, where the L2-instruction group outperformed the L2-immersion group. Taken together, our results suggest a specific effect of language experience and an overall effect of linguistic context on cognitive functions.

Objective: Treatments for adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are understudied, compared to children and adolescents with the same condition. In this systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis, we aim to evaluate the outcomes of computerized cognitive training (CCT) interventions in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including adults with ADHD.

Method: Cognitive outcomes and ADHD symptom severity were analyzed separately. In addition, the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities was used to categorize outcome variables into subdomains, which were analyzed separately in a subsequent analysis.

Results: The results revealed a small positive change in overall cognitive functioning, a measure of all cognitive outcomes in each study, for individuals who took part in CCT compared to controls (k = 9, Hedge’s g = 0.235, 95% CI [0.002, 0.467], p = 0.048, τ2 = 0.000, I2 = 0.000). However, neither symptom severity nor specific cognitive outcomes (executive functioning, cognitive speed, or working memory) showed a significant improvement.

Conclusions: We analyzed the risk of bias in the chosen studies and discuss the findings in terms of effect size. It is concluded that CCT has a small positive effect in adults with ADHD. Due to the lack of heterogeneity in intervention designs across the included studies, increased heterogeneity in future studies could help inform clinicians about the aspects of CCT, such as training type and length, that are most beneficial for this group.

Studies examining the potential effects of bilingualism on interference suppression show inconsistent results. Our study approaches this topic by distinguishing two potential subcomponents within interference suppression (i.e., Stimulus-Stimulus and Stimulus-Response conflict). We investigated the two subcomponents through their operationalisation in different tasks and examined the role of language proficiency in modulating it. A sample of 111 young adult participants performed four non-linguistic cognitive tasks measuring both visual and auditory domains of cognitive control. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals in tasks involving Stimulus-Stimulus conflict, but showed comparable performance in tasks involving Stimulus-Response conflict. Specific effects of language proficiency on cognitive control were observed: group differences in auditory inhibition and visual orienting were only observed between high-proficient bilinguals and monolinguals. Taken together, types of conflicts involved in interference tasks and language proficiency could differentially affect performance in monolinguals and bilinguals.

Esports is an often time-consuming activity that has become increasingly popular with billions of players all over the world. The objective of this study was to investigate if there is a relationship between skill level in the strategy video game Dota 2, a game that places many demands on decision making to be successful, and decision making under ambiguity and experience as measured by performance in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a task known to have ecological validity. Two indicators of players’ performance in Dota 2, namely match-making rating (MMR) and Medal, were used as predictors of performance in the IGT in path models. Results showed that Medal was a significant predictor of performance in IGT, while MMR score was borderline significant. The cognitive reflection task, included in the models as an indicator of the ability to engage in conscious, analytical, rational, and logical thinking, was a significant predictor of performance in IGT, and was significantly and positively related to MMR. The findings from this study give insight into the cognitive demands related to performance in Dota 2. Although results suggest that strategy video gaming may be a factor that contributes to increased decision making abilities, a reversed relationship is also possible, whereby individuals who are better at decision making are also more likely to become successful in Dota-2. More studies, preferably longitudinal, are needed to replicate the findings of this study and to establish the directionality between factors.