Bidirectional interaction between language control and domain-general executive control in unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals
Huang Xin,
Lu Aitao,
Deng Ruchen,
Tang Ying,
Zeng Jiayi,
Zhu Wenfang,
Li Kexin,
Li Fen,
Hua Mingyu,
Xiong Wen
Affiliations
Huang Xin
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Lu Aitao
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Deng Ruchen
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Tang Ying
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Zeng Jiayi
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Zhu Wenfang
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Li Kexin
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Li Fen
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Hua Mingyu
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Xiong Wen
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China + School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
Recent research has shown that bilinguals outperform monolinguals on tasks requiring non-linguistic executive control skills, thereby generating an interest in the relationship between bilingual language processing and non-linguistic control abilities. Based on this, the present study further examined the bidirectional interaction between language control and non-linguistic control in unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals. These bilinguals completed a Flanker task in three types of language control contexts (i.e., L1, L2, and Mixed language contexts) in the interleaved word-comprehension-to-Flanker sequence and performed a picture-word matching task in three types of non-linguistic executive control contexts (i.e., color, shape and color-shape mixed contexts) in the interleaved color-shape-switching-to-word-comprehension sequence. The results showed that the Flanker effect in mixed language context was smaller than in single (L1 and L2) context, suggesting language control leads to a better non-linguistic control ability. Additionally, the language switching cost was found smaller in the mixed task context (color/shape switching), indicating that non-linguistic control can enhance the language control ability. Therefore, we conclude that there is a bidirectional interaction between language control and non-linguistic control even in unbalanced bilinguals.
