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Cognitive Advantage of Bilingualism and Its Criticisms

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Bilingualism and Cognitive Control

Part of the book series: The Bilingual Mind and Brain Book Series ((BMBBS,volume 6))

Abstract

This chapter is about the various theories and controversies around the question of bilingualism and its influence on cognition. In the last decade or so many investigators have proposed different theories to account for the evidence that bilingualism and its practice enhances some aspects of general cognitive capacity. However, we also see many others who have not replicated the original findings or have proposed alternative accounts. While the psycholinguistic basis of bilingualism is well understood, how and why such processes influence non-linguistic cognition remains debatable. At this juncture, there is overwhelming research interest to understand whether bilingualism leads to cognitive reserve and if this pushes the onset of old-age neurodegenerative disorders. The evidence for these ideas is open to discussion. This chapter does not review all of the theories and the vast research that has gone into these but synthesises them around the key theoretical notions. The chapter specifically focuses on non-replicable results.

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  1. Center for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Ramesh Kumar Mishra

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Mishra, R.K. (2018). Cognitive Advantage of Bilingualism and Its Criticisms. In: Bilingualism and Cognitive Control. The Bilingual Mind and Brain Book Series, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92513-4_4

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