Manipulating the need for intentional language selection in bilingual production and visual comprehension

这项研究提案提出了两个问题：(1)双语者的日常交流是否需要费力的控制--特别是在转换语言时？(2)如果双语者确实经常使用这种费力的控制，它是否会导致更好的认知能力，从而转化为其他认知任务，并在衰老和神经退化中产生更好的认知韧性？这两个问题都是根本性的，第一个问题是对双语的科学理解，第二个问题是潜在地利用双语的好处来增强大脑的“力量”和健康，因此具有相当大的影响潜力。这些问题也非常及时。在本世纪初，经验研究似乎一致支持双语交流既费力又有益于认知的观点。然而，在过去的5-8年里，严重的疑虑开始浮现。首先，表明双语交流是费力的实验室任务可能并不完全具有生态有效性，因此不能为双语者在现实生活中进行交流提供坚实的基础。其次，一些最初关于双语者比单语者认知表现更好的报道没有被重复。这个项目的主要目的是解决双语研究中的一个难题--根据这个难题，关于双语的广泛认知益处的早期研究声称没有得到最近证据的支持。因此，尽管许多人仍然相信双语可以传递认知优势，但这种优势的可信证据很少。为了打破这一僵局，该项目提出了一个激进的三方面方法。首先，它不会假设双语者在日常语言之间的平衡(和转换)总是很费力，而是会对双语者的经历进行一项基于网络和实验室的全面调查，以确定哪些任务、活动和情景需要平衡语言，以及这些任务/活动中哪些特别费力。其次，该项目将根据上述调查的数据，开发1-2个新的实验室范式，并改变现有的实验室范式，而不是完全依赖于生态有效性充其量未知(最坏情况下为低)的现有实验室范式。这些新的范例将在实验室中进行广泛的研究，使用行为学(反应时间和准确性)和神经科学的方法来阐明可能起作用的心理过程。第三，该项目不是通过各种认知测试对双语者进行全面测试，而是致力于开发和测试更具体的预测，预测哪些任务和活动不需要双语，但可能仍有优势--正如上述调查所提供的那样。该项目可能会产生真正突破性的证据，证明双语者的交流体验，以及模拟这种体验关键方面的新颖实验室任务。由于双语在社会上日益流行和重要，有关双语的研究经常发表在影响力较大的心理学和神经科学期刊上，因此该项目的结果可能会产生重大的科学影响，但也会产生社会影响。

The Research Proposal asks two questions: (1) Does day-to-day communication in bilinguals require effortful control - in particular when switching languages? (2) If bilinguals do apply such effortful control regularly, does it result in superior cognitive abilities that translate to other cognitive tasks, and superior cognitive resilience in aging and neurodegeneration? Both questions are fundamental, the first - for the scientific understanding of bilingualism, and the second - for potentially exploiting the benefits of bilingualism to augment brain "power" and health, hence the considerable potential for impact. These questions are also very timely. At the beginning of the millennium, empirical studies provided seemingly unanimous support for the notions that bilingual communication is both effortful and cognitively beneficial. However, over the last 5-8 years serious doubts have started to emerge. First, the laboratory tasks which suggest bilingual communication is effortful may not be entirely ecologically valid, and thus not provide a solid basis for inferences regarding real-life communication in bilinguals. Second, some of the initial reports of superior cognitive performance in bilinguals compared to monolinguals were not replicated. the primary aim of this project is to address a conundrum in the research on bilingualism - whereby claims of early studies on widespread cognitive benefits of bilingualism have not been supported by more recent evidence. Thus, whilst many still believe that bilingualism conveys cognitive advantages, the credible evidence for such advantages is thin.To overcome this impasse, the project proposes a radical three-fold approach. First, instead of assuming that day-to-day balancing (and switching) between languages in bilinguals is always effortful, it will conduct a comprehensive web- and lab-based survey of experience in bilinguals to determine what tasks, activities, situations require balancing of languages, and which of these tasks/activities are especially effortful. Second, instead of relying exclusively on extant laboratory paradigms whose ecological validity is unknown at best (and low at worst), the project will develop 1-2 new paradigms, on the basis of the data from the above-mentioned survey, as well as alter existing laboratory paradigms. The novel paradigms will be extensively investigated in the lab using behavioural (response time and accuracy) and neuroscientific measures to elucidate the psychological processes likely at play. Third, instead of "blanket-testing" of bilinguals using various cognitive tests, the project will aim to develop and test much more specific predictions regarding tasks and activities where bilingualism isn't required but may still be advantageous - as informed by the above-mentioned survey.The project is likely to generate truly ground-breaking evidence on the communicative experience in bilinguals, and novel laboratory tasks which model key aspects of such experience. Since bilingualism is of increasing societal prevalence and importance, and research on bilingualism is frequently published in high-impact psychology and neuroscience journals, the outcomes of this project are likely to have a substantial scientific, but also societal, impact.