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Foreign Language Proficiency, Typological Similarity to L1, and Cognitive Control

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Advances in Cognitive Research, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroinformatics (Intercognsci 2020)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1358))

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Abstract

Cognitive control plays an important role in regulating attention and behavior. Research has shown a cognitive advantage in bilinguals, however whether these results apply to people learning a foreign language later in life using formal education is not entirely clear. Due to globalization processes more people tend to communicate in multiple languages. Learning foreign languages has become a part of the compulsory education curriculum worldwide. In this work we investigate the relation between foreign language proficiency and the efficacy of the cognitive control functions: inhibition and task switching. Computerized cognitive control tasks were completed by 63 participants (45 women, aged 19–33). The acquired data was factorized resulting in 3 measures of cognitive control efficacy: general efficacy, accuracy of inhibition, and accuracy of task switching. Using the Spearman’s correlation analysis, we found that the accuracy of task switching is significantly linked with the level of language proficiency. These results are in line with the previous findings suggesting that code switching strongly involves the cognitive control functions in bilinguals.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research(#19–013-00806).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lomonossov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Boris B. Velichkovsky & Anastasia Ziberova

  2. Moscow State Linguistic University, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Boris B. Velichkovsky

  3. Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, Moscow, Russian Federation

    Boris B. Velichkovsky & Anastasia Ziberova

Authors
  1. Boris B. Velichkovsky
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  2. Anastasia Ziberova
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Correspondence to Boris B. Velichkovsky .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Moscow, Russia

    Boris M. Velichkovsky

  2. Institute of Higher Nervous Activity RAS, Moscow, Russia

    Pavel M. Balaban

  3. Institute for Advanced Brain Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    Vadim L. Ushakov

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Velichkovsky, B.B., Ziberova, A. (2021). Foreign Language Proficiency, Typological Similarity to L1, and Cognitive Control. In: Velichkovsky, B.M., Balaban, P.M., Ushakov, V.L. (eds) Advances in Cognitive Research, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroinformatics. Intercognsci 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1358. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71637-0_39

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