We examined the relationship between cognitive and linguistic abilities in bilingual children (English – Spanish). In particular, we measured the effect of attentional control (the ability to maintain an operative goal, and goal-relevant information, in the face of distraction) and educational experience (amount of time reading) on reading ability (the ability to recognize words and discard misspelled non-words). The sample included 82 developing bilingual children from an immersion school in the United States. Participants were presented with two tasks: the Flanker task as the measure of attentional control (resistance to distractor interference) and the Lexical decision task as the measure of reading ability (processing words and discarding pseudohomophones). Performance in the Flanker task predicted performance in the lexical decision task. However, the amount of time practice reading (measured with a self-report questionnaire) did not predict performance in the lexical decision task. Lastly, performance in Spanish predicted performance in English. These findings point to a close connection between cognitive function and reading ability. Furthermore, the results support the linguistic interdependence hypothesis, as literacy skills are transferred across the two languages of developing bilingual children.
","abstract_html":"<p>We examined the relationship between cognitive and linguistic abilities in bilingual children (English – Spanish). In particular, we measured the effect of attentional control (the ability to maintain an operative goal, and goal-relevant information, in the face of distraction) and educational experience (amount of time reading) on reading ability (the ability to recognize words and discard misspelled non-words). The sample included 82 developing bilingual children from an immersion school in the United States. Participants were presented with two tasks: the Flanker task as the measure of attentional control (resistance to distractor interference) and the Lexical decision task as the measure of reading ability (processing words and discarding pseudohomophones). Performance in the Flanker task predicted performance in the lexical decision task. However, the amount of time practice reading (measured with a self-report questionnaire) did not predict performance in the lexical decision task. Lastly, performance in Spanish predicted performance in English. These findings point to a close connection between cognitive function and reading ability. Furthermore, the results support the linguistic interdependence hypothesis, as literacy skills are transferred across the two languages of developing bilingual children. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Elena Martin, Ines"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z","subjects":["Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Cognitive Psychology","Linguistics"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2020 Ines Elena Martin"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/711","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Elena Martin, Ines"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Cognitive Psychology","Linguistics"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2020 Ines Elena Martin"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/711"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["We examined the relationship between cognitive and linguistic abilities in bilingual children (English – Spanish). In particular, we measured the effect of attentional control (the ability to maintain an operative goal, and goal-relevant information, in the face of distraction) and educational experience (amount of time reading) on reading ability (the ability to recognize words and discard misspelled non-words). The sample included 82 developing bilingual children from an immersion school in the United States. Participants were presented with two tasks: the Flanker task as the measure of attentional control (resistance to distractor interference) and the Lexical decision task as the measure of reading ability (processing words and discarding pseudohomophones). Performance in the Flanker task predicted performance in the lexical decision task. However, the amount of time practice reading (measured with a self-report questionnaire) did not predict performance in the lexical decision task. Lastly, performance in Spanish predicted performance in English. These findings point to a close connection between cognitive function and reading ability. Furthermore, the results support the linguistic interdependence hypothesis, as literacy skills are transferred across the two languages of developing bilingual children.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Relationship Between Cognitive And Linguistic Abilities In Bilingual Children"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Elena Martin, Ines"],"dc:description.abstract":["We examined the relationship between cognitive and linguistic abilities in bilingual children (English – Spanish). In particular, we measured the effect of attentional control (the ability to maintain an operative goal, and goal-relevant information, in the face of distraction) and educational experience (amount of time reading) on reading ability (the ability to recognize words and discard misspelled non-words). The sample included 82 developing bilingual children from an immersion school in the United States. Participants were presented with two tasks: the Flanker task as the measure of attentional control (resistance to distractor interference) and the Lexical decision task as the measure of reading ability (processing words and discarding pseudohomophones). Performance in the Flanker task predicted performance in the lexical decision task. However, the amount of time practice reading (measured with a self-report questionnaire) did not predict performance in the lexical decision task. Lastly, performance in Spanish predicted performance in English. These findings point to a close connection between cognitive function and reading ability. Furthermore, the results support the linguistic interdependence hypothesis, as literacy skills are transferred across the two languages of developing bilingual children.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/711"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2020 Ines Elena Martin"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Cognitive Psychology","Linguistics"],"dc:title":["The Relationship Between Cognitive And Linguistic Abilities In Bilingual Children"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z"}