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The influence of bilingualism on working memory event-related potentials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2018

CASSANDRA MORRISON ,
FAROOQ KAMAL  and
VANESSA TALER
CASSANDRA MORRISON
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada & Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
FAROOQ KAMAL
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada & Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
VANESSA TALER*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada & Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
*
Address for correspondence: Vanessa Taler, University of Ottawa, School of Psychology, Vanier Hall, 136 Jean Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canadavtaler@uottawa.ca
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Abstract

Bilingualism has been found to enhance the ability to store and manipulate information in working memory (WM). However, previous studies of WM function in bilingualism have been limited to behavioural measures, leaving questions unanswered regarding the effects of bilingualism on neural mechanisms employed during WM tasks. We recorded brain activity (event-related potentials; ERPs) while participants (23 English-speaking and 21 English–French bilinguals) performed an n-back WM task. Accuracy and reaction time were similar across groups, but monolinguals exhibited smaller P300 amplitudes relative to bilinguals, suggesting that bilinguals have more cognitive resources available to complete cognitively demanding tasks.

Keywords

bilingualismevent-related potentialsworking memory
Type
Research Notes
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 191 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

We thank the participants in this study and Giovanna Busa for her assistance with data acquisition. This research was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (210924-190799) grant to V.T.

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