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van den Noort M, Struys E, Bosch P, Jaswetz L, Perriard B, Yeo S, Barisch P, Vermeire K, Lee SH, Lim S. Does the Bilingual Advantage in Cognitive Control Exist and If So, What Are Its Modulating Factors? A Systematic Review. Behav Sci (Basel) 2019; 9:E27. [PMID: 30871228 PMCID: PMC6466577 DOI: 10.3390/bs9030027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2019] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, doubts were raised about the existence of the bilingual advantage in cognitive control. The aim of the present review was to investigate the bilingual advantage and its modulating factors. We searched the Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ERIC databases for all original data and reviewed studies on bilingualism and cognitive control, with a cut-off date of 31 October 2018, thereby following the guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol. The results of the 46 original studies show that indeed, the majority, 54.3%, reported beneficial effects of bilingualism on cognitive control tasks; however, 28.3% found mixed results and 17.4% found evidence against its existence. Methodological differences seem to explain these mixed results: Particularly, the varying selection of the bilingual participants, the use of nonstandardized tests, and the fact that individual differences were often neglected and that longitudinal designs were rare. Therefore, a serious risk for bias exists in both directions (i.e., in favor of and against the bilingual advantage). To conclude, we found some evidence for a bilingual advantage in cognitive control; however, if significant progress is to be made, better study designs, bigger data, and more longitudinal studies are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maurits van den Noort
- Research Group of Pain and Neuroscience, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
- Brussels Institute for Applied Linguistics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Esli Struys
- Brussels Institute for Applied Linguistics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Peggy Bosch
- Psychiatric Research Group, LVR-Klinik Bedburg-Hau, 47511 Bedburg-Hau, Germany.
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Lars Jaswetz
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, 6525 Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Benoît Perriard
- Department of Medicine, Neurology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
| | - Sujung Yeo
- College of Oriental Medicine, Sang Ji University, Wonju 26339, Korea.
| | - Pia Barisch
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Katrien Vermeire
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Long Island University (LIU) Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA.
| | - Sook-Hyun Lee
- Research Group of Pain and Neuroscience, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
| | - Sabina Lim
- Research Group of Pain and Neuroscience, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
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