TY - JOUR A1 - Festman, Julia A1 - Muente, Thomas F. T1 - Cognitive control in Russian-German bilinguals JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - Bilingual speakers are faced with the problem to keep their languages apart, but do so with interindividually varying success. Cognitive control abilities might be an important factor to explain such interindividual differences. Here we compare two late, balanced and highly proficient bilingual groups (mean age 24 years, L1 Russian, L2 German) which were established according to their language control abilities on a bilingual picture-naming task. One group had difficulties to remain in the instructed target language and switched unintentionally to the non-target language ("switchers"), whereas the other group rarely switched unintentionally ("non-switchers"). This group-specific behavior could not be explained by language background, socio-cultural, or demographic variables. Rather, the non-switchers also demonstrated a faster and better performance on four cognitive control tests (Tower of Hanoi, Ruff Figural Fluency Test, Divided Attention, Go/Nogo). Here, we focus on two additional executive function tasks, theWisconsin Card SortingTest (WCST) and the Flanker task requiring conflict monitoring and conflict resolution. Non-switchers outperformed switchers with regard to speed and accuracy, and were better at finding and applying the correct rules in the WCST. Similarly, in the Flanker task non-switchers performed faster and better on conflict trials and had a higher correction rate following an error. Event-related potential recordings furthermore revealed a smaller error-related negativity in the non-switchers, taken as evidence for a more efficient self-monitoring system. We conclude that bilingual language performance, in particular switching behavior, is related to performance on cognitive control tasks. Better cognitive control, including conflict monitoring, results in decreased unintentional switching. KW - Flanker task KW - ERN KW - Wisconsin Card Sorting Test KW - conflict monitoring KW - inhibition KW - late bilinguals KW - cognitive control KW - executive function Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00115 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 3 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rodriguez-Villagra, Odir Antonio A1 - Göthe, Katrin A1 - Oberauer, Klaus A1 - Kliegl, Reinhold T1 - Working memory capacity in a go/no-go task - age differences in interference, processing speed, and attentional control JF - Developmental psychology N2 - We tested the limits of working-memory capacity (WMC) of young adults, old adults, and children with a memory-updating task. The task consisted of mentally shifting spatial positions within a grid according to arrows, their color signaling either only go (control) or go/no-go conditions. The interference model (IM) of Oberauer and Kliegl (2006) was simultaneously fitted to the data of all groups. In addition to the 3 main model parameters (feature overlap, noise, and processing rate), we estimated the time for switching between go and no-go steps as a new model parameter. In this study, we examined the IM parameters across the life span. The IM parameter estimates show that (a) conditions were not different in interference by feature overlap and interference by confusion; (b) switching costs time; (c) young adults and children were less susceptible than old adults to interference due to feature overlap; (d) noise was highest for children, followed by old and young adults; (e) old adults differed from children and young adults in lower processing rate; and (f) children and old adults had a larger switch cost between go steps and no-go steps. Thus, the results of this study indicated that across age, the IM parameters contribute distinctively for explaining the limits of WMC. KW - working memory capacity KW - interference model KW - inhibition KW - children KW - old adults and young adults Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030883 SN - 0012-1649 VL - 49 IS - 9 SP - 1683 EP - 1696 PB - American Psychological Association CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Austin, Gina A1 - Groppe, Karoline A1 - Elsner, Birgit T1 - The reciprocal relationship between executive function and theory of mind in middle childhood: a 1-year longitudinal perspective JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - There is robust evidence showing a link between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in 3-to 5-year-olds. However, it is unclear whether this relationship extends to middle childhood. In addition, there has been much discussion about the nature of this relationship. Whereas some authors claim that ToM is needed for EF, others argue that ToM requires EF. To date, however, studies examining the longitudinal relationship between distinct sub components of EF [i.e., attention shifting, working memory (WM) updating, inhibition] and ToM in middle childhood are rare. The present study examined (1) the relationship between three EF subcomponents (attention shifting, WM updating, inhibition) and ToM in middle childhood, and (2) the longitudinal reciprocal relationships between the EF subcomponents and ToM across a 1-year period. EF and ToM measures were assessed experimentally in a sample of 1,657 children (aged 6-11 years) at time point one (t1) and 1 year later at time point two (t2). Results showed that the concurrent relationships between all three EF subcomponents and ToM pertained in middle childhood at t1 and t2, respectively, even when age, gender, and fluid intelligence were partialle dout. Moreover, cross-lagged structural equation modeling (again, controlling for age, gender, and fluid intelligence, as well as for the earlier levels of the target variables), revealed partial support for the view that early ToM predictslater EF, but stronger evidence for the assumption that early EF predictslater ToM. The latter was found for attention shifting and WM updating, but not for inhibition. This reveals the importance of studying the exact interplay of ToM and EF across childhood development, especially with regard to different EF subcomponents. Most likely, understanding others' mental states at different levels of perspective-taking requires specific EF subcomponents, suggesting developmental change in the relations between EF and ToM across childhood. KW - executive function KW - theory of mind KW - longitudinal KW - middle childhood KW - attention shifting KW - inhibition KW - working memory updating Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00655 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 5 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mosca, Michela T1 - Trilinguals’ language switching BT - A strategic and flexible account JF - The quarterly journal of experimental psychology N2 - The goal of this study was to determine how trilinguals select the language they intend to use in a language switching context. Two accounts are examined: (a) a language-specific account, according to which language selection considers the activation level of words of the intended language only (i.e., language co-activation without language competition), and (b) a language non-specific account, where activated words from both the intended and non-intended languages compete for selection (i.e., language co-activation with language competition). Results showed that, in both groups, all three languages competed for selection and that selection was achieved by inhibiting the currently non-relevant languages. Moreover, extending findings from previous research, the study reveals that, in both Experiments 1 and 2, the amount of inhibition was influenced not only by language proficiency but also by the typological similarity between languages. Overall, the study shows that language switching performance can be accounted for by a strategic and flexible inhibitory account. In particular, the controlling system is “strategic” in the sense that it aims at preventing potential conflicting situations, such as typological closeness between languages, and it is “flexible” in that it adjusts languages’ activation levels, depending on the conflict to be solved. KW - Language switching KW - language selection KW - trilingualism KW - inhibition KW - language typology Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021818763537 SN - 1747-0218 SN - 1747-0226 VL - 72 IS - 4 SP - 693 EP - 716 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kolyvushko, Oleksandr A1 - Latzke, Juliane A1 - Dahmani, Ismail A1 - Osterrieder, Nikolaus A1 - Chiantia, Salvatore A1 - Azab, Walid T1 - Differentially-charged liposomes interact with alphaherpesviruses and interfere with virus entry JF - Pathogens N2 - Exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane is induced by infection with several members of the Alphaherpesvirinae subfamily. There is evidence that PS is used by the equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) during entry, but the exact role of PS and other phospholipids in the entry process remains unknown. Here, we investigated the interaction of differently charged phospholipids with virus particles and determined their influence on infection. Our data show that liposomes containing negatively charged PS or positively charged DOTAP (N-[1-(2,3-Dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium) inhibited EHV-1 infection, while neutral phosphatidylcholine (PC) had no effect. Inhibition of infection with PS was transient, decreased with time, and was dose dependent. Our findings indicate that both cationic and anionic phospholipids can interact with the virus and reduce infectivity, while, presumably, acting through different mechanisms. Charged phospholipids were found to have antiviral effects and may be used to inhibit EHV-1 infection. KW - alphaherpesvirus KW - EHV-1 KW - phosphatidylserine KW - inhibition KW - pathogen host KW - interaction Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9050359 SN - 2076-0817 VL - 9 IS - 5 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gianelli, Claudia A1 - Kühne, Katharina A1 - Lo Presti, Sara A1 - Mencaraglia, Silvia A1 - Dalla Volta, Riccardo T1 - Action processing in the motor system BT - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) evidence of shared mechanisms in the visual and linguistic modalities JF - Brain and cognition : a journal of experimental and clinical research N2 - In two experiments, we compared the dynamics of corticospinal excitability when processing visually or linguistically presented tool-oriented hand actions in native speakers and sequential bilinguals. In a third experiment we used the same procedure to test non-motor, low-level stimuli, i.e. scrambled images and pseudo-words. Stimuli were presented in sequence: pictures (tool + tool-oriented hand action or their scrambled counterpart) and words (tool noun + tool-action verb or pseudo-words). Experiment 1 presented German linguistic stimuli to native speakers, while Experiment 2 presented English stimuli to non-natives. Experiment 3 tested Italian native speakers. Single-pulse trascranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS) was applied to the left motor cortex at five different timings: baseline, 200 ms after tool/noun onset, 150, 350 and 500 ms after hand/verb onset with motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) recorded from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles. We report strong similarities in the dynamics of corticospinal excitability across the visual and linguistic modalities. MEPs' suppression started as early as 150 ms and lasted for the duration of stimulus presentation (500 ms). Moreover, we show that this modulation is absent for stimuli with no motor content. Overall, our study supports the notion of a core, overarching system of action semantics shared by different modalities. KW - TMS KW - motor cortex KW - action observation KW - action language KW - motor KW - inhibition KW - motor-evoked potentials Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2019.105510 SN - 0278-2626 SN - 1090-2147 VL - 139 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fuhrmeister, Pamela A1 - Bürki-Foschini, Audrey Damaris T1 - Distributional properties of semantic interference in picture naming BT - Bayesian meta-analyses JF - Psychonomic bulletin & review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society N2 - Studies of word production often make use of picture-naming tasks, including the picture-word-interference task. In this task, participants name pictures with superimposed distractor words. They typically need more time to name pictures when the distractor word is semantically related to the picture than when it is unrelated (the semantic interference effect). The present study examines the distributional properties of this effect in a series of Bayesian meta-analyses. Meta-analytic estimates of the semantic interference effect first show that the effect is present throughout the reaction time distribution and that it increases throughout the distribution. Second, we find a correlation between a participant's mean semantic interference effect and the change in the effect in the tail of the reaction time distribution, which has been argued to reflect the involvement of selective inhibition in the naming task. Finally, we show with simulated data that this correlation emerges even when no inhibition is used to generate the data, which suggests that inhibition is not needed to explain this relationship. KW - Picture-word-interference task KW - Semantic interference effect KW - Selective KW - inhibition KW - Delta plot analyses KW - Individual differences Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-02016-6 SN - 1069-9384 SN - 1531-5320 VL - 29 IS - 2 SP - 635 EP - 647 PB - Springer CY - New York ER -