Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T13:26:01.091Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Improved statistical learning abilities in adult bilinguals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2017

LUCA ONNIS ,
WIN EE CHUN  and
MATTHEW LOU-MAGNUSON
LUCA ONNIS*
Affiliation:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
WIN EE CHUN
Affiliation:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
MATTHEW LOU-MAGNUSON
Affiliation:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
*
Address for correspondence: Luca Onnis, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore637332lucao@ntu.edu.sg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Using multiple languages may confer distinct advantages in cognitive control, yet it is unclear whether bilingualism is associated with better implicit statistical learning, a core cognitive ability underlying language. We tested bilingual adults on a challenging task requiring simultaneous learning of two miniature grammars characterized by different statistics. We found that participants learned each grammar significantly better than chance and both grammars equally well. Crucially, a validated continuous measure of bilingual dominance predicted accuracy scores for both artificial grammars in a generalized linear model. The study thus demonstrates the first graded advantage in learning novel statistical relations in adult bilinguals.

Keywords

Artificial grammar learningbilingualismimplicit learninglanguage dominancemixed-effects modelsstatistical learning
Type
Research Notes
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 427 - 433
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*Support comes from Singapore Ministry of Education Tier 1 grant RG81/14 to L.O., and NTU-URECA fund to L.O. and W.E.C. Shimon Edelman, Beth O'Brien, and Kathleen Ang for commenting on earlier versions of this manuscript. Author contributions: L.O. developed the study concept and design, performed the data analysis and interpretation, and drafted the manuscript. W.E.C. performed recruitment and data collection, calculated Language dominance scores, and assisted L.O. in data analysis and manuscript revision. M. L.M. wrote the PsychoPy scripts for the experiment and assisted in data analysis and manuscript revision. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

References

Arciuli, J. (2017). The multi-component nature of statistical learning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 372: 20160058.Google Scholar
Bartolotti, J., Marian, V., Schroeder, S., & Shook, A. (2011). Bilingualism and inhibitory control influence statistical learning of novel word forms. Frontiers in Cognition, 2 (324), 1–9.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: consequences for mind and brain. Trends in cognitive sciences, 16 (4), 240–250.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Kroll, J. F., Green, D. W., MacWhinney, B., & Craik, F. I. (2015). Publication bias and the validity of evidence what's the connection? Psychological science, 26 (6), 944–946.Google Scholar
Birdsong, D., Gertken, L. M., & Amengual, M. (2012). Bilingual language profile: An easy-to-use instrument to assess bilingualism. COERLL, University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Conway, C. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2006). Statistical learning within and between modalities pitting abstract against stimulus-specific representations. Psychological science, 17 (10), 905–912.Google Scholar
Christiansen, M. H., Conway, C. M., & Onnis, L. (2012). Similar neural correlates for language and sequential learning: evidence from event-related brain potentials. Language and cognitive processes, 27 (2), 231–256.Google Scholar
De Bruin, A., Treccani, B., & Della Sala, S. (2014). Cognitive advantage in bilingualism an example of publication bias? Psychological science, 0956797614557866.Google Scholar
Escudero, P., Mulak, K. E., Fu, C. S., & Singh, L. (2016). More limitations to monolingualism: bilinguals outperform monolinguals in implicit word learning. Frontiers in psychology, 7.Google Scholar
Evans, J. L., Saffran, J. R., & Robe-Torres, K. (2009). Statistical learning in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52 (2), 321–335.Google Scholar
Franco, A., Cleeremans, A., & Destrebecqz, A. (2011). Statistical learning of two artificial languages presented successively: how conscious? Frontiers in psychology, 2, 229.Google Scholar
Gertken, L. M., Amengual, M., & Birdsong, D. (2014). Assessing language dominance with the Bilingual Language Profile. Measuring L2 proficiency: Perspectives from SLA, 208–225.Google Scholar
Kidd, E. (2012). Implicit statistical learning is directly associated with the acquisition of syntax. Developmental psychology, 48 (1), 171.Google Scholar
Kidd, E., & Arciuli, J. (2016). Individual differences in statistical learning predict children's comprehension of syntax. Child development, 87 (1), 184–193.Google Scholar
Misyak, J. B., & Christiansen, M. H. (2012). Statistical learning and language: An individual differences study. Language Learning, 62 (1), 302–331.Google Scholar
Paap, K. R., Johnson, H. A., & Sawi, O. (2015). Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to very specific and undetermined circumstances. Cortex, 69, 265–278.Google Scholar
Paap, K. R., Johnson, H. A., & Sawi, O. (2016). Should the search for bilingual advantages in executive functioning continue. Cortex, 74 (4), 305–314.Google Scholar
Poepsel, T. J., & Weiss, D. J. (2016). The influence of bilingualism on statistical word learning. Cognition, 152, 9–19.Google Scholar
Pothos, E. M. (2007). Theories of artificial grammar learning. Psychological bulletin, 133 (2), 227.Google Scholar
Potter, C. E, Wang, T., & Saffran, J. R. (2015). Second language experience facilitates statistical learning of novel linguistic materials. Cognitive Science, 41 (4), 1–15.Google Scholar
Prior, A., & MacWhinney, B. (2010). A bilingual advantage in task switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13 (2), 253–262.Google Scholar
Core Team, R. (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software manual]. Vienna, Austria. Retrieved from http://www.R-project.org/ (ISBN 3-900051-07-0).Google Scholar
Siegelman, N., Bogaerts, L., Christiansen, M. H., & Frost, R. (2017). Towards a theory of individual differences in statistical learning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 372: 20160059.Google Scholar
Spencer, M., Kaschak, M. P., Jones, J. L., & Lonigan, C. J. (2015). Statistical Learning is Related to Early Literacy-Related Skills. Reading and Writing, 28 (4), 467–490.Google Scholar
Wang, T., & Saffran, J. R. (2014). Statistical learning of a tonal language: The influence of bilingualism and previous linguistic experience. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 953.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiss, D. J., Gerfen, C., & Mitchel, A. D. (2009). Speech segmentation in a simulated bilingual environment: A challenge for statistical learning? Language Learning and Development, 5 (1), 30–49.Google Scholar
Weiss, D. J., Poepsel, T., & Gerfen, C. (2015) Tracking multiple inputs: The challenge of bilingual statistical learning. Rebuschat, P. (Ed.) Implicit and Explicit Learning of Languages. p167–190. John Benjamins Press.Google Scholar
Yim, D., & Rudoy, J. (2013). Implicit statistical learning and language skills in bilingual children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 56 (1), 310–322.Google Scholar
Yim, D., & Windsor, J. (2010). The roles of nonlinguistic statistical learning and memory in language skill. Korean Journal of Communication Disorders, 15 (15), 381–396.Google Scholar