Cognitive consequences of trilingualism

Abstract

Aims and Objectives The objectives of the present research were to examine the cognitive consequences of trilingualism and explain them relative to the cognitive consequences of bilingualism. Approach A comparison of cognitive abilities in trilinguals and bilinguals was conducted. In addition, we proposed a cognitive plasticity framework to account for cognitive differences and similarities between trilinguals and bilinguals. Data and Analysis Three aspects of cognition were analyzed: (1) cognitive reserve in older adults, as measured by age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment; (2) inhibitory control in children and younger adults, as measured by response times on behavioral Simon and flanker tasks; and (3) memory generalization in infants and toddlers, as measured by accuracy on behavioral deferred imitation tasks. Results were considered within a framework of cognitive plasticity, which took into account several factors that may affect plasticity, including the age of learning a third language and the extent to which additional cognitive resources are needed to learn the third language. Findings A mixed pattern of results was observed. In some cases, such as cognitive reserve in older adults, trilinguals showed larger advantages than bilinguals. On other measures, for example inhibitory control in children and younger adults, trilinguals were found to exhibit the same advantages as bilinguals. In still other cases, like memory generalization in infants and toddlers, trilinguals did not demonstrate the advantages seen in bilinguals. Originality This study is the first comprehensive analysis of how learning a third language affects the cognitive abilities that are modified by bilingual experience, and the first to propose a cognitive plasticity framework that can explain and predict trilingual-bilingual differences. Significance This research shows that the cognitive consequences of trilingualism are not simply an extension of bilingualism’s effects; rather, trilingualism has distinct consequences, with theoretical implications for our understanding of linguistic and cognitive processes and their plasticity, as well as applied-science implications for using second and third language learning in educational and rehabilitative contexts to foster successful cognitive development and aging.

Classes in Translating and Interpreting Produce Differential Gains in Switching and Updating

“…The advantage in the non-linguistic switching tasks yielded by interpreting instead of translation experiences at an early stage of interpreting experience suggests that high-processing demands may be critical to improving cognitive control, which may be able to explain the inconsistent findings in bilingual cognitive control reported so far. This explanation is consistent with what was found in the comparative study of multitasking and single task video games (Anguera et al, 2013), and with the supply demand explanation by Schroeder and Marian (2016). Furthermore, the results from the present study lead us to speculate that there might be a development curve of cognitive control enhancement in multitasking training such as L2 training, interpreting training or video games training.…”

Intensity of Multilingual Language Use Predicts Cognitive Performance in Some Multilingual Older Adults

“…In line with our hypothesis, yet contrary to previous research by [ 20 , 21 , 62 ], the regression models in Table 6 demonstrated that a traditional knowledge-based operationalisation of multilingualism (as number of languages, early vs. late onset of acquisition, language proficiency and type of language combinations) does not unequivocally lead to enhanced cognitive performance. As individuals differ on many levels, finding an effect of number of languages or degree of cognitive performance would have been strong evidence in favour of a general bilingual advantage.…”

Uncovering the Mechanisms Responsible for Why Language Learning May Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging

“…First, typologically different languages might be more demanding to learn because they share few linguistic commonalities. It has recently been proposed that tasks that are more cognitively engaging will yield greater cognitive benefits (e.g., photographic training is superior to watching documentaries; Park et al, 2014 ), and for language learners, the benefits may be greatest when demands exceed their available cognitive resources ( Schroeder and Marian, 2016 ). Second, typologically similar languages could lead to rapid learning because they share linguistic commonalities (and cognates), leading, after attainment of some proficiency, to competition between the languages exceeding that between distant languages ( Weber and Cutler, 2004 ; Broersma and Cutler, 2011 ; Cutler, 2015 ).…”

“…However, younger trilingual adults and children showed the same advantages as bilinguals on inhibitory control measures. Trilingual infants and toddlers performed worse than bilinguals on memory generalization tasks ( Schroeder and Marian, 2016 ). In sum, it is not clear if multilingualism brings about greater cognitive benefits than bilingualism, although the present evidence suggests that it is likely to emerge under certain circumstances.…”