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Chapter 6. Cooking pasta in La Paz

Bilingualism, bias, and the replication crisis
  • Thomas H. Bak
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Bilingualism, Executive Function, and Beyond
This chapter is in the book Bilingualism, Executive Function, and Beyond

Abstract

Literature on bilingualism and cognition is characterized by a large amount of conflicting evidence. In some studies, bilinguals perform better then monolinguals on executive tasks involving inhibition, monitoring, and switching but are slower on tasks of lexical processing. Other studies don’t find any significant effects and challenge the very existence of cognitive differences between monolinguals and bilinguals. In this paper I question the assumption that different studies performed in different parts of the world should yield the same results. I argue that the environment (in the widest sense of the word) in which an experiment is conducted can exert profound influence on its outcome. Against the background of the current debate about the replication crisis in science, I propose that conflicting evidence is not a threat to the trustworthiness of scientific research but a sign of the health of a discipline and a welcome opportunity to identify new relevant variables.

Abstract

Literature on bilingualism and cognition is characterized by a large amount of conflicting evidence. In some studies, bilinguals perform better then monolinguals on executive tasks involving inhibition, monitoring, and switching but are slower on tasks of lexical processing. Other studies don’t find any significant effects and challenge the very existence of cognitive differences between monolinguals and bilinguals. In this paper I question the assumption that different studies performed in different parts of the world should yield the same results. I argue that the environment (in the widest sense of the word) in which an experiment is conducted can exert profound influence on its outcome. Against the background of the current debate about the replication crisis in science, I propose that conflicting evidence is not a threat to the trustworthiness of scientific research but a sign of the health of a discipline and a welcome opportunity to identify new relevant variables.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Bilingualism, executive function, and beyond 1
  4. Part I. Beyond simple relations
  5. Chapter 2. The signal and the noise 17
  6. Chapter 3. Variation in language experience shapes the consequences of bilingualism 35
  7. Chapter 4. Adaptive control and brain plasticity 49
  8. Chapter 5. Comparing executive functions in monolinguals and bilinguals 67
  9. Chapter 6. Cooking pasta in La Paz 81
  10. Part II. Language processing
  11. Chapter 7. Interference control in bilingual auditory sentence processing in noise 103
  12. Chapter 8. Investigating grammatical processing in bilinguals 117
  13. Chapter 9. Referring expressions and executive functions in bilingualism 131
  14. Chapter 10. Language control and executive control 147
  15. Chapter 11. Effects of dense code-switching on executive control 161
  16. Chapter 12. Predicting executive functions in bilinguals using ecologically valid measures of code-switching behavior 181
  17. Part III. Cognition and bilingualism
  18. Chapter 13. Research on individual differences in executive functions 209
  19. Chapter 14. Does performance on executive function tasks correlate? 223
  20. Chapter 15. Putting together bilingualism and executive function 237
  21. Chapter 16. What cognitive processes are likely to be exercised by bilingualism and does this exercise lead to extra-linguistic cognitive benefits? 247
  22. Part IV. Development, aging, and impairment
  23. Chapter 17. Executive control in bilingual children 265
  24. Chapter 18. Interactions among speed of processing, cognitive control, age, and bilingualism 281
  25. Chapter 19. Teasing apart factors influencing executive function performance in bilinguals and monolinguals at different ages 295
  26. Chapter 20. Proficient bilingualism may alleviate some executive function difficulties in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders 337
  27. Chapter 21. Does bilingualism protect against cognitive aging? 355
  28. Author index 371
  29. Subject index 375
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.57.06bak

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Bilingualism, executive function, and beyond 1
  4. Part I. Beyond simple relations
  5. Chapter 2. The signal and the noise 17
  6. Chapter 3. Variation in language experience shapes the consequences of bilingualism 35
  7. Chapter 4. Adaptive control and brain plasticity 49
  8. Chapter 5. Comparing executive functions in monolinguals and bilinguals 67
  9. Chapter 6. Cooking pasta in La Paz 81
  10. Part II. Language processing
  11. Chapter 7. Interference control in bilingual auditory sentence processing in noise 103
  12. Chapter 8. Investigating grammatical processing in bilinguals 117
  13. Chapter 9. Referring expressions and executive functions in bilingualism 131
  14. Chapter 10. Language control and executive control 147
  15. Chapter 11. Effects of dense code-switching on executive control 161
  16. Chapter 12. Predicting executive functions in bilinguals using ecologically valid measures of code-switching behavior 181
  17. Part III. Cognition and bilingualism
  18. Chapter 13. Research on individual differences in executive functions 209
  19. Chapter 14. Does performance on executive function tasks correlate? 223
  20. Chapter 15. Putting together bilingualism and executive function 237
  21. Chapter 16. What cognitive processes are likely to be exercised by bilingualism and does this exercise lead to extra-linguistic cognitive benefits? 247
  22. Part IV. Development, aging, and impairment
  23. Chapter 17. Executive control in bilingual children 265
  24. Chapter 18. Interactions among speed of processing, cognitive control, age, and bilingualism 281
  25. Chapter 19. Teasing apart factors influencing executive function performance in bilinguals and monolinguals at different ages 295
  26. Chapter 20. Proficient bilingualism may alleviate some executive function difficulties in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders 337
  27. Chapter 21. Does bilingualism protect against cognitive aging? 355
  28. Author index 371
  29. Subject index 375
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