Bilingualism as a Protective Factor for Executive Dysfunction in Autism Open Access

Abstract

While conclusions from research are mixed, there are studies that demonstrate a bilingual

advantage in executive functioning and studies that demonstrate executive dysfunction in

individuals with autism. Despite these complementary patterns of findings, very little research

has looked at the bilingual-autism experience and its effect on executive function skills. Even

fewer studies have tested this population’s performance on inhibitory control, the subdomain of

executive functioning previously shown to be most positively impacted by bilingualism, and no

studies to date have tested this population’s performance on spatial working memory, the

subdomain previously shown to be most negatively impacted by autism. This current study

aimed to investigate this relation through three sub-studies. The first being a comparison of

inhibitory control and spatial working memory skills in monolingual and bilingual adults to

replicate bilingual differences in executive function. The second being a comparison of

inhibitory control and spatial working memory skills in 7-8-year-old children with autism and

typically developing children to replicate autism-related executive function dysfunction and

demonstrate the feasibility of these tasks in these populations. And the third being the

comparison of inhibitory control and spatial working memory skills in 7-8-year-old monolingual

and bilingual children with autism to ultimately investigate the cognitive implications of this

experience. Since data collection for Study 2 and 3 are still ongoing, only the results from Study

1 are discussed. In Study 1, no significant differences were found between the monolingual and

bilingual adults on the inhibitory control and spatial working memory tasks. However, this may

be due, in part, to the amount of second language exposure experienced by the “monolingual”

participants and a possible “ceiling effect” of executive function skills. If one of these

mechanisms is in fact contributing to the null effects, these findings would serve as further

justification for Study 2 and 3 and other research with younger participants as they would be

able a illustrate a much clearer picture of how these factors, namely autism and bilingualism,

influence cognitive development.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... i

List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ ii

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1

Bilingualism and Executive Functioning...........................................................................................2

Autism and Executive Functioning ..................................................................................................4

Interaction between Bilingualism and Autism on Executive Functioning ..........................................6

Methods ................................................................................................................................ 8

Measures .......................................................................................................................................8

Surveys ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Experimental Tasks .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Study 1: Adult Monolinguals vs. Bilinguals .................................................................................... 11

Study 2: Neurotypical vs. Autistic Children .................................................................................... 12

Hypotheses. ........................................................................................................................................................ 12

Hypotheses. ........................................................................................................................................................ 13

Results................................................................................................................................. 14

Simon Task ................................................................................................................................... 15

Backwards Corsi Block Task .......................................................................................................... 18

Group Comparisons ..................................................................................................................... 19

Simon Task .......................................................................................................................................................... 19

Discussion............................................................................................................................ 22

Simon Task Findings ..................................................................................................................... 23

Backwards Corsi Block Task Findings ............................................................................................. 23

Second Language Experience in ‘Monolingual’ Participants ........................................................... 24

Ceiling Effect ................................................................................................................................ 27

Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 28

Implications ................................................................................................................................. 29

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 30

References ........................................................................................................................... 31

About this Honors Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Developmental
Keyword	Bilingual Inhibitory Control Spatial Working Memory Executive Function Autism Executive Dysfunction
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Brianna Yamasaki, Emory University
Committee Members	Andrew Kazama, Emory University Laura Edwards, Emory University

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