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Multilingualism is associated with small task-specific advantages in cognitive performance of older adults

Achaa-Amankwaa, Priscilla
Kushnereva, Ekaterina
Miksch, Hanna
Stumme, Johanna
Heim, Stefan
Ebersbach, Mirjam

The protective effects of multiple language knowledge on the maintenance of cognitive functions in older adults have been discussed controversially, among others, because of methodological inconsistencies between studies. In a sample of N = 528 German monolinguals and multilinguals (speaking two or more languages) older than 60 years, this study examined (1) whether speaking multiple languages is positively related to performance on tasks of interference suppression, working memory, concept shifting, and phonemic and semantic fluency, and (2) whether language proficiency and age of second language acquisition (AoA) are associated with cognitive performance of multilinguals. Controlling for education and daily activity, we found small cognitive benefits of speaking multiple languages on interference suppression, working memory, and phonemic fluency, but not on concept shifting and semantic fluency. Furthermore, no substantive correlations were found between language proficiency or AoA and cognitive performance. In conclusion, multilingualism appears to have small incremental effects on cognitive performance beyond education and daily activity in older age that are task-specific and widely independent of proficiency and AoA.

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Gefördert im Rahmen des Projekts DEAL
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In: Scientific Reports Volume 13 / (2023-10-07) , S. ; eissn:2045-2322
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@article{doi:10.17170/kobra-202402239646,
  author    ={Achaa-Amankwaa, Priscilla and Kushnereva, Ekaterina and Miksch, Hanna and Stumme, Johanna and Heim, Stefan and Ebersbach, Mirjam},
  title    ={Multilingualism is associated with small task-specific advantages in cognitive performance of older adults},
  keywords ={300 and 370 and 400 and Mehrsprachigkeit and Älterer Mensch <60-80 Jahre> and Intelligenzleistung},
  copyright  ={http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
  language ={en},
  journal  ={Scientific Reports},
  year   ={2023-10-07}
}