Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Rosselli, Monica

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that bilingualism may provide an advantage to older adults on inhibitory control and have a positive effect on some cognitive declines seen in normal aging. This study examined the effects of bilingualism on inhibitory control using a Simon task and a Stroop task on a heterogeneous sample of bilinguals whose level of proficiency on each of their two languages varied widely. Comparison of performances between younger and older monolingual and bilingual participants revealed a bilingual advantage on the Simon task. Results support the view that bilingualism increases skills that are associated with selective attention. Additionally, older bilingual adults performed as well as younger bilingual adults suggesting they are not experiencing the age-related declines in the efficiency of inhibitory processes observed in the older monolingual adults. However, a bilingual advantage was not observed on the Stroop task indicating that the advantage may depend on the nature of the distracting stimulus. Bilinguals may be better equipped than monolinguals at inhibiting misleading spatial information but not at inhibiting misleading linguistic information. The performance of balanced and non-balanced bilinguals was similar under both Simon and Stroop tasks suggesting that language level proficiency does not play a role in providing an advantage.

Extent

65 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2007.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Charles E. Schmidt College of Science|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00000877

Format

pdf

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