Improved statistical learning abilities in adult bilinguals

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bilingualism (Cambridge, England) England), 2018-03, Vol.21 (2), p.427-433
Main Authors: ONNIS, LUCA, CHUN, WIN EE, LOU-MAGNUSON, MATTHEW
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Artificial Languages
Bilingualism
Cognition & reasoning
Control Groups
Data Analysis
Individualized Instruction
Language Acquisition
Language Proficiency
Language thought relationship
Research Notes
Skills
Syntax
Tonal languages
Undergraduate Students
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1366-7289
1469-1841
DOI:10.1017/S1366728917000529