Spanish-English Code-Switching and Cognitive Control

Code-switching is the act of alternating between multiple languages within a conversation, common amongst bilingual speakers. The Control Process Model claims that different types of language contexts like code-switching involve different levels of engagement of cognitive control. In studying this phenomenon, prior research has demonstrated that reading code-switched sentences enhanced cognitive control (conflict resolution) on non-verbal trials compared to one-language contexts. The current study investigates how code-switching affects conflict resolution similar to that of the previous study but using more ecologically valid auditory stimuli (speech). Participants are Spanish-English bilinguals in the US who learned both languages before the age of 12. The experiment alternates one-language spoken sentences and Spanish-English sentences. Sentences are interleaved with Flanker trials, congruent or incongruent. Participants respond to the direction of the middle arrow. The prediction made is that both the presence of a code-switch and the type of code-switch modulates the conflict effect. Results show that the presence of a switch and the type of switch matters in modulating cognitive control in bilingual individuals.