Examining the Bilingual Advantage on Conflict Resolution Tasks: A Meta-Analysis.

Abstract

A great deal of research has compared monolingual and\nbilinguals on conflict resolution tasks, with inconsistent\nfindings: Some studies reveal a bilingual advantage on global\nRTs, some reveal a bilingual advantage on interference cost,\nand some show no advantage. We report a meta-analysis of\n73 comparisons (N = 5538), with estimates of global RTs and\ninterference cost for each study. Results revealed a\nmoderately significant effect size that was not moderated by\ntype of cost (global RT or interference cost) or task. Age\ninteracted with type of cost, showing a pattern difficult to\nreconcile with theories of bilingualism and executive control.\nAdditionally there was a significant main effect of lab, which\nmight be due to sociolinguistic differences in samples, data\ntreatment and methodology, or Hawthorne effects.