Are Your International Classmates Really Smarter than You? The Relationship Between Bilingualism and Cognitive Performance

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Michelle Johnson¹ (michelle.johnson@bruins.belmont.edu), Emily Stripling², Ashley Brook³, Deya Rassul⁴, Sinead Mukolo-Villegas⁵, Hannah Johnson⁶, Emma Sells⁷, Michael Oliver⁸; ¹Belmont University

Bilingualism is one of many phenomena that have received substantial attention in relation to human cognition; yet the findings have been diverse. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between bilingualism and domain-general cognitive functions, looking at both behavioral and cortical differences in 70 college-aged participants. In particular, we investigated executive functioning, language processing abilities, and working memory, using the Stroop Task, the Lexical Decision Task, and the Sternberg Working Memory Task respectively, while brain activity was measured simultaneously using electroencephalography (EEG). Cognitive performance by linguistic status revealed no behavioral differences between monolinguals and bilinguals on the cognitive tasks. However, bilinguals did demonstrate significantly enhanced cortical reactivity in frontal regions (i.e., greater response amplitudes) on the decision-making task, but not the attention or working memory tasks, compared to monolinguals.

Topic Area: METHODS: Electrophysiology