Attentional Set Shifting Abilities in Dominant and Balanced Bilinguals

Abstract

Set shifting abilities refers to the ability to shift between the sets actively. It is studied in special regard to bilinguals as they are prone to shift between languages in their routine. The study was undertaken to verify if the set shifting abilities vary as a function of bilingual proficiency. A total of 40 participants in the age range of 18-25 years were considered. The participants were categorised as low and high proficient bilinguals based on LEAP Q. Alternating fluency was administered further. The participants had to carry out three tasks, same category L1-L2 shift, same category L2-L1 shift and L1-L2 different category shift. Balanced bilinguals outperformed dominant bilinguals. Dominant bilinguals performed better in L1 on all three conditions, while the balanced bilinguals performed equally well in both the languages on all the different conditions. Further statistical analysis was carried out to verify if there was any significant difference between L1 and L2 for balanced and dominant bilinguals. Statistically significant difference across the conditions was seen for dominant bilinguals only indicating that the set shifting abilities varied a function of language proficiency.
Keywords: Strategic control, shifting, dominance