Navarro Ester, DeLuca Vincent, Rossi Eleonora
Center for Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.
Department of Language and Culture, The Artic University of Norway, Hansine Hansens Veg 18, 9019 Tromsø, Norway.
Brain Sci. 2022 Apr 9;12(4):487. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12040487.
An increasing amount of research has examined the effects of bilingualism on performance in theory of mind (ToM) tasks. Bilinguals outperform monolinguals in ToM when comparing groups. However, it is unclear what aspects of the bilingual experience contribute to this effect in a dynamic construct like ToM. To date, bilingualism has been conceptualized as a dichotic skill that is distinct from monolingualism, obscuring nuances in the degree that different bilingual experience affects cognition. The current study used a combination of network science, cognitive, and linguistic behavioral measurements to explore the factors that influence perspective-taking ToM based on participants' current and previous experience with language, as well as their family networks' experience with language. The results suggest that some aspects of the bilingual experience predict task performance, but not others, and these predictors align with the two-system theory of ToM. Overall, the findings provide evidence for the extent to which individual differences in bilingualism are related to different cognitive outcomes.
越来越多的研究探讨了双语能力对心理理论（ToM）任务表现的影响。在比较群体时，双语者在心理理论任务中的表现优于单语者。然而，对于双语体验的哪些方面在像心理理论这样的动态结构中促成了这种影响，目前尚不清楚。迄今为止，双语能力被概念化为一种与单语能力不同的双耳技能，这掩盖了不同双语体验对认知影响程度的细微差别。本研究结合了网络科学、认知和语言行为测量方法，以探讨基于参与者当前和以往的语言体验以及其家庭网络的语言体验，影响观点采择心理理论的因素。结果表明，双语体验的某些方面可以预测任务表现，但其他方面则不然，而且这些预测因素与心理理论的双系统理论相符。总体而言，这些发现为双语能力的个体差异在多大程度上与不同的认知结果相关提供了证据。
