Natural vs forced language switching: Free selection and consistent language use eliminate significant performance costs and cognitive demands in the brain

Zhu, Judy D.; Blanco-Elorrieta, Esti; Sun, Yanan; Szakay, Anita; Sowman, Paul F.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118797

Cited by 21 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Thus, IFG might have increased its volume at an earlier point of their bilingual experience and renormalization might be already in place as the opportunities to use both languages start to increase. This would also go in line with recent evidence showing that forced switching implies increased brain activity in right IFG as measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG), an effect that is absent during natural switching ( Zhu et al, 2022 ). Given the bilingual characteristics of the region where we conducted our study, where a big majority of the population is able to understand both languages, switching is probably more natural than enforced by the context—if the interlocutor understands both languages, changes from one to the other can be performed freely, not because they are required for successful communication.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Dynamic Effects of Immersive Bilingualism on Cortical and Subcortical Grey Matter Volumes

et al. 2022

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Bilingualism has been shown to induce neuroplasticity in the brain, but conflicting evidence regarding its specific effects in grey matter continues to emerge, probably due to methodological differences between studies, as well as approaches that may miss the variability and dynamicity of bilingual experience. In our study, we devised a continuous score of bilingual experiences and we investigated their non-linear effects on regional GM volume in a sample of young healthy participants from an immersive and naturalistic bilingual environment. We focused our analyses on cortical and subcortical regions that had been previously proposed as part of the bilingual speech pipeline and language control network. Our results showed a non-linear relationship between bilingualism score and grey matter volume of the inferior frontal gyrus. We also found linear increases in volumes of putamen and cerebellum as a function of bilingualism score. These results go in line with predictions for immersive and naturalistic bilingual environments with increased intensity and diversity of language use and provide further evidence supporting the dynamicity of bilingualism’s effects on brain structure.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Dynamic Effects of Immersive Bilingualism on Cortical and Subcortical Grey Matter Volumes

et al. 2022

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“…Some comparisons find smaller voluntary than cued costs (e.g., Gollan et al, 2014;Jevtović et al, 2020) while others find comparable costs (e.g, de Bruin et al, 2018;Gollan et al, 2014). However, voluntary costs are not always observed (e.g., Blanco-Elorrieta & Pylkkänen, 2017;Kleinman & Gollan, 2016;Zhu, Blanco-Elorrieta, Sun, Szakay & Sowman, 2022). Although more research is needed, differences in the presence/size of this cost might relate to the bilinguals tested (Green & Abutalebi, 2013), stimuli (e.g., using items strongly associated with one language, Zhu et al, 2022), or instructions (e.g., asking bilinguals to use a bottom-up approach by always choosing the same language for a given picture, Kleinman & Gollan, 2016).…”

Section: Voluntary Language Switchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language switching in different contexts and modalities: Response-stimulus interval influences cued-naming but not voluntary-naming or comprehension language-switching costs

Bruin

Xu²

2022

Bilingualism

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Language switching is often associated with language competition and switching costs. However, the underlying mechanisms might differ depending on context (free versus cued naming) and modality (production or comprehension). In this study, we assessed how response-stimulus intervals (RSI) influence language-switching costs. Longer RSIs might provide more time for interference from the previous trial to decay and result in smaller switching costs. Mandarin–English bilinguals completed two dual-language production tasks (Experiment 1: cued and voluntary picture naming) and one comprehension task (Experiment 2: animacy judgement) with a short RSI and a long RSI condition. While switching costs were present in all tasks, they were only influenced by RSI length in the cued-production task, with smaller switching costs in the long RSI condition. In contrast, RSI did not influence voluntary-production or comprehension costs. This suggests that bilinguals might apply language control differently to switch languages depending on the type of switching and modality.

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“…Nevertheless, it should be noted that switching in such a rapid alternation between two languages required by external cue differs from natural switching in a real-life situation. This is because the former situation allows for an inhibition of the non-target language, whereas natural switching relies on a language-specific selection mechanism that does not trigger inhibitory control (Zhu et al, 2021). Meuter and Allport (1999) also proposed that the relative proficiency levels of bilinguals' two languages should affect the degree of switching cost asymmetry.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the modulation of active preparation and passive dissipation on inhibitory control processes in the language switching paradigm

Shen

2023

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionPrevious language-switching studies have received scholastic attention and the observed switching cost patterns have provided empirical evidence for bilingual language control. However, results are inconsistent as the size of and (a)symmetry in switching costs differ across studies. In addition, there are various methodological differences that go beyond stimulus differences, such as the language proficiency of the participants (the participant-level factor) and the preparation time (a task-related level factor), which might be responsible for these inconsistent results.MethodsWith a focus on task-related factors, the present study was designed to examine whether and how preparation time modulates the size and (a)symmetry in switching costs by using the language-switching paradigm with cue-to-stimulus and response-to-cue intervals manipulated.ResultsReplicating previous literature on language switching and task switching, a clear preparation effect was observed in all trials (stay and switch trials) for both L1 and L2. The switching costs were modulated by the cue-to-stimulus intervals, and specifically, switching costs decreased when the preparation time increased. Another intriguing finding was that even when participants were offered enough time to fully prepare for selecting the target language at the cue window, the switching costs were not completely eliminated. In terms of the passive preparation at the response-to-cue interval, switching costs could be modulated by the response-to-cue interval – the time for passive dissipation of inhibitory control applied in previous trials. The size of switching costs was clearly modulated by manipulating response-to-cue intervals and switching costs decreased as the waiting time after a naming response increased.DiscussionThis study provides empirical evidence for the modulation of preparation effects on switching costs and inhibitory control mechanisms in bilingual language production.

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Natural vs forced language switching: Free selection and consistent language use eliminate significant performance costs and cognitive demands in the brain

Cited by 21 publications

References 63 publications

Dynamic Effects of Immersive Bilingualism on Cortical and Subcortical Grey Matter Volumes

Dynamic Effects of Immersive Bilingualism on Cortical and Subcortical Grey Matter Volumes

Language switching in different contexts and modalities: Response-stimulus interval influences cued-naming but not voluntary-naming or comprehension language-switching costs

Investigating the modulation of active preparation and passive dissipation on inhibitory control processes in the language switching paradigm

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