Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14279/32138
Title: Multilingualism and verbal short-term/working memory: Evidence from academics
Authors: Fyndanis, Valantis 
Cameron, Sarah 
Hansen, Pernille Bonnevie 
Norvik, Monica I. 
Simonsen, Hanne Gram 
Major Field of Science: Humanities
Field Category: Languages and Literature
Keywords: Multilingualism;Working memory
Issue Date: May-2023
Source: Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2023, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 490-503
Volume: 26
Issue: 3
Start page: 490
End page: 503
Journal: Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 
Abstract: To date, the evidence regarding the effect of bilingualism/multilingualism on short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) capacity is inconclusive. This study investigates whether multilingualism has a positive effect on the verbal STM and WM capacity of neurotypical middle-aged and older individuals. Eighty-two L1-Norwegian sequential bilingual/ multilingual academics were tested with tasks measuring verbal STM/WM capacity. Degree of bilingualism/multilingualism for each participant was estimated based on a comprehensive questionnaire. Different measures of bilingualism/multilingualism were used. Data on potentially influencing non-linguistic factors were also collected. Correlation and regression analyses showed that multilingualism impacts both verbal STM and verbal WM. In particular, all analyses showed that number of known foreign languages was the strongest predictor of verbal STM and WM capacity. The results are discussed in light of recent studies on the impact of bilingualism on STM/WM and on recent proposals regarding the mechanism underlying so-called bilingual advantage.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14279/32138
ISSN: 14691841
DOI: 10.1017/S1366728922000621
Rights: © The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence.
Type: Article
Affiliation : Cyprus University of Technology 
University of Oslo 
Norwegian University of Science and Technology 
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed
Appears in Collections:Άρθρα/Articles

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