Comparing bilingual and monolingual performance on the attention network test: meta-analysis of a literature inspired by Albert Costa

Abstract

Are there differences between bilinguals and monolinguals in non-linguistic cognitive processes related to attention? Recent interest in this question, which has a long history, was stimulated by ideas presented in Bialystok's 2001 book: Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition. Because attention is a multi-faceted construct Costa et al. (Cognition 106(1):59-86, 2008, Cognition 113(2):135-149, 2009) sought to answer this question using the attention network test (ANT), a simple-toadminister tool that was designed to measure the efficacy of three attention networks: alerting, orienting and executive control. Using the ANT Database, a recently developed repository of data extracted from studies that have used the ANT to answer any question, we identified 16 papers that followed Costa's pioneering use of the ANT to address the question whether bilingualism is associated with differences in attention. In this paper we begin by reviewing the methods and findings from Costa's studies, and then report the results of three meta-analyses (conducted separately for children, young adults and middle-aged adults) of the data reported in these 16 papers. Whereas, there were no noteworthy effects of language status on alerting or orienting in any group, our meta-analysis of the studies that tested young adults revealed, in agreement with Costa et al. (2008) a bilingual advantage in executive control. A similar bilingual advantage was not observed in the other age groups.

Graded bilingual effects on attentional network function in Chinese high school students

“…We expect to observe a positive association between degree of bilingualism and monitoring, consistent with domain general cognitive benefits of bilingualism (Bialystok & Craik, 2022). Additionally, we expect to observe a positive association between degree of bilingualism and executive control (Arora & Klein, 2020). Considering that the majority of past studies compare monolingual with bilingual samples and that bilingual language status is generally assessed through proficiency (Surrain & Luk, 2017), we expect that improved monitoring and executive control would be associated with higher levels of proficiency.…”

“…Previous studies investigating bilingual effects on attention using the ANT have reported mixed findings. In their Bayesian meta-analysis, Arora and Klein (2020) identified credible evidence in support of reduced interference effects in young adult bilinguals, but no evidence for this outcome in children. Additionally, there was no credible evidence in support of bilinguals demonstrating a global reduction in RT across all trial types, nor increased efficiency in either alerting or orienting.…”

“…Among studies using the ANT to investigate the impact of bilingualism, improved monitoring and/or executive control network efficiency in bilinguals is commonly reported (Costa, Hernández, Costa-Faidella & Sebastián-Gallés, 2009;Costa et al, 2008;Novitskiy, Shtyrov & Myachykov, 2019;Pelham & Abrams, 2014;Sabourin & Vīnerte, 2019;Tao, Marzecová, Taft, Asanowicz & Wodniecka, 2011;Woumans, Ceuleers, Van der Linden, Szmalec & Duyck, 2015;Yang & Yang, 2016). To date, fewer studies have identified bilingual effects on alerting and orienting network function (Arora & Klein, 2020). In one seminal study (Costa et al, 2008), increased alerting network efficiency in bilinguals was thought to support monitoring and conflict resolution processes.…”

“…While a number of studies have used the ANT to explore the impact of bilingualism on attentional network function (Arora & Klein, 2020), few of these studies have been conducted in adolescent samples. Presently, whether bilingualism influences attentional network function in adolescents remains an underexplored and open question.…”

Bilingualism and executive attention: Evidence from studies of proactive and reactive control.

“…As for attentional disengagement, however, the idea that bilinguals would be advantaged in this particular type of monitoring is difficult to reconcile with the traditional executive attention framework. The main obstacle is that efficient monitoring of this type does not result in reduced congruency effects, the signature pattern of efficient executive attention (but see Arora & Klein, 2020; Grundy, 2020). Relatedly, traditional theories of cognitive control (e.g., Botvinick et al, 2001) assume that what is being monitored is conflict, not item type.…”