A working memory, not bilingual advantage, in controlled attention

Abstract

We explored the relationship between working memory (WM) and visually controlled attention (CA) in young bilingual and monolingual children. Previous research has shown that balanced bilingual children outperform monolinguals in CA. However, it is unclear whether this advantage is truly associated with bilingualism or whether potential WM and/or language differences led to the observed effects. Therefore, we examined whether bilingual and monolingual children differ on a visual measure of CA after potential differences in verbal and visual WM had been accounted for. We also looked at the relationship between visually CA and visual WM. Fifteen French monolingual children, 15 English monolingual children, and 15 early simultaneous bilingual children completed verbal short-term memory, verbal WM, visual WM, and visual CA tasks. Detailed information regarding language exposure was collected and abilities in each language were evaluated. A bilingual advantage was not found; that is, monolingual and bilingual children were equally successful in ignoring the irrelevant perceptual distraction on the Simon Task. However, children with better visual WM scores were also more faster and more accurate on the Simon Task. Furthermore, visual WM correlated significantly with the visual CA task.

Keywords:

• bilingualism
• working memory
• controlled attention

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a standard research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) awarded to the second author. The authors also wish to express gratitude to the children and parents who so willingly participated in this study and thus made this research possible.