Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:42:57.700Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Second-Language Fluency Predicts Native Language Stroop Effects: Evidence from Spanish–English Bilinguals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2014

Paola A. Suarez ,
Tamar H. Gollan ,
Robert Heaton ,
Igor Grant ,
Mariana Cherner  and
the HNRC Group
Paola A. Suarez*
Affiliation:
San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, California Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
Tamar H. Gollan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
Robert Heaton
Affiliation:
San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, California Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
Igor Grant
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
Mariana Cherner
Affiliation:
San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, California Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
the HNRC Group
Affiliation:
HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Paola Suarez, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0847. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Studies have shown reduced Stroop interference in bilinguals compared to monolinguals defined dichotomously, but no study has explored how varying degrees of second language fluency, might affect linguistic inhibitory control in the first language. We examined effects of relative English fluency on the ability to inhibit the automatic reading response on the Golden version of the Stroop Test administered in Spanish. Participants were 141 (49% male) adult native Spanish speakers from the U.S.–Mexico border region (education range = 8–20 and age range = 20–63). A language dominance index was calculated as the ratio of English words to total words produced in both languages using the Controlled Oral Word Association Test with letters PMR in Spanish and FAS in English. Greater degree of English fluency as measured by the dominance index predicted better speed on the Stroop incongruent trial independent of education effects. On the other hand, neither the dominance index nor education predicted performance on the word reading and color-naming trials. These results suggest an advantage in inhibitory control among those with greater second-language ability. (JINS, 2014, 20, 342–348)

Keywords

BilingualismHispanic Americans/psychologyExecutive functionVerbal fluencyRegression analysisEducational statusSpanish speaker
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , March 2014 , pp. 342 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anstey, K.J., Matters, B., Brown, A.K., Lord, S.R. (2000). Normative data on neuropsychological tests for very old adults living in retirement villages and hostels. Clinical Neuropsychology, 14(3), 309–317.Google Scholar
Artiola i Fortuny, L., Hermosillo, D., Heaton, R.K., Pardee, R.E. (1999). Manual de normas y procedimientos para la batería neuropsicológica en Español. Tucson, AZ: Neuropsychology Press.Google Scholar
Benton, A.L., Hamsher, K. (1989). Multilingual aphasia examination manual. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition. New York, NY: Cambridge Univeristy Press.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2010). Global-local and trail-making tasks by monolingual and bilingual children: Beyond inhibition. Developmental Psychology, 46(1), 93–105.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., Luk, G. (2008). Cognitive control and lexical access in younger and older bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34(4), 859–873.Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Viswanathan, M. (2009). Components of executive control with advantages for bilingual children in two cultures. Cognition, 112(3), 494–500.Google Scholar
Carlson, S.M., Meltzoff, A.N. (2008). Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children. Developmental Science, 11(2), 282–298.Google Scholar
Gasquoine, P.G., Croyle, K.L., Cavazos-Gonzalez, C., Sandoval, O. (2007). Language of administration and neuropsychological test performance in neurologically intact Hispanic American bilingual adults. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22(8), 991–1001.Google Scholar
Golden, C.J., Freshwater, S.M. (2002). Stroop Color Word Test: A manual for clinical and experimental uses. Chicago, IL: Stoelting Co.Google Scholar
Green, D.W. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12, 67–81.Google Scholar
Mitrushina, M., Boone, K., Razani, J., D'Elia, L. (2005). Stroop Test Handbook of Normative Data for Neuropsychological Assessment (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Moering, R.G., Schinka, J.A., Mortimer, J.A., Graves, A.B. (2004). Normative data for elderly African Americans for the Stroop Color and Word Test. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 19(1), 61–71.Google Scholar
Razani, J., Burciaga, J., Madore, M., Wong, J. (2007). Effects of acculturation on tests of attention and information processing in an ethnically diverse group. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22(3), 333–341.Google Scholar
Rosselli, M., Ardila, A., Santisi, M.N., Arecco Mdel, R., Salvatierra, J., Conde, A., Lenis, B. (2002). Stroop effect in Spanish-English bilinguals. Journal of International Neuropsychological Society, 8(6), 819–827.Google Scholar
Strickland, T.L., D'Elia, L., James, R., Stein, R. (1997). Stroop Color-Word performance of African Americans. The Clinical Neuropsychologists, 11(1), 87–90.Google Scholar
Stroop, R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–662.Google Scholar
Tzelgov, J., Henik, A., Liser, D. (1990). Controlling Stroop interference: Evidence from a bilingual task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16(5), 760–771.Google Scholar