Attention allocation during a dual task paradigm by bilingual speakers

Cognitive resource allocation theories and an impressive accumulation of empirical research suggest that humans selectively allocate their mental attention. When faced with two concurrent tasks, human performance on a variety of cognitive and language tasks can be significantly affected. Whilst the nature of performance trade-off during a dual task paradigm is being studied with increasing vigour in subjects with hemispheric damage, little is known about attentional allocation during linguistic tasks by bilingual speakers. The present study employed the dual task technique to investigate the nature and effectiveness of language processing across two languages in bilingual subjects. Twenty-nine volunteer subjects were selected for this study. All were fluent English/Greek bilingual speakers with Greek being their first language (L1) and English their second language (L2). Subjects were presented with two highly demanding verbal tasks (auditory comprehension and category fluency) in English (L2) and Greek (L1). Tasks were presented either alone (single task) or simultaneously (dual task). For the dual task condition, subjects were instructed to divide their attention equally between the two simultaneously presented verbal tasks. Results revealed that: (a) subjects performed more accurately on single task conditions than on dual task conditions; (b) subjects reported they focused their attention on the verbal task they perceived as being easier (category fluency); (c) subjects reported they were able to meet the goal of balancing their mental effort equally between the two tasks in L1 but not in L2; (d) in dual task conditions performance was reduced on either one or both the tasks when the auditory comprehension was in English, but not when it was in Greek. These results suggest that fluent bilingual speakers who show adequate knowledge and mastery of their second language (L2) demonstrate inferior processing of L2 when confronted with attentional overload. This was only evident when processing the complex verbal task of auditory comprehension and not during the task of category fluency

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Comprehension · Elementary cognitive task · Fluency · Linguistics · Neuropsychology · Task Analysis · Verbal fluency test · Computer Science · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development · Artificial Intelligence

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