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Review
. 2011 Dec;65(4):229-35.
doi: 10.1037/a0025406. Epub 2011 Sep 12.

Reshaping the mind: the benefits of bilingualism

Ellen Bialystok  1
Affiliations
Review

Reshaping the mind: the benefits of bilingualism

Ellen Bialystok. Can J Exp Psychol. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Studies have shown that bilingual individuals consistently outperform their monolingual counterparts on tasks involving executive control. The present paper reviews some of the evidence for this conclusion and relates the findings to the effect of bilingualism on cognitive organisation and to conceptual issues in the structure of executive control. Evidence for the protective effect of bilingualism against Alzheimer's disease is presented with some speculation about the reason for that protection.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean reaction time and standard error on congruent and incongruent trials in the global-local task, adapted from Bialystok (2010), Study 1.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean percent accuracy and standard error for classifying visual or auditory stimuli in either the single task or dual task conditions, adapted from Bialystok (2011).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean reaction time cost and standard error for incongruent items (Stroop effect) in Stroop task by younger and older monolingual and bilingual participants, adapted from Bialystok et al. (2008).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean RT (and standard error) on congruent and incongruent trials in flanker task by monolinguals, bilinguals, and bimodal speech-sign bilinguals, adapted from Emmorey et al. (2008b).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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