Effects of bilingualism on memory: How does the language we use affect the recall of future intentions?
Speaking more than one language opens the door to new worlds and experiences. However, the power of bilingualism goes beyond the social benefits we can all easily imagine. The fact that different languages coexist in our brains has important repercussions on the way we see the world and interact with it. Thus, there is a wide range of studies that have investigated how the language in which we perform certain activities (e.g., our first or second language) affects the processing and execution of various tasks related to decision-making, visual attention, perception or even memory. However, so far, no studies have explored the effects of bilingualism on such an essential task as remembering future intentions (e.g., taking medication at the right time, keeping an appointment or making a pending call).
To explore the influence of bilingualism on these memory processes, researchers Cristina López Rojas, Alejandra Marful, Ana Pérez and Teresa Bajo from the Memory and Language Group (HUM740), have carried out a study in which they observed how the linguistic context (first or second language) in which the intention was to be remembered, affected the memory of the intention and the general performance in the task. For this purpose, participants (monolingual and bilingual) completed a future intention recall task in their first language. The task consisted of reading and comprehending short texts, in which cues indicating the time to perform a previously encoded intention (prospective intention) were presented sporadically. The task was designed to recreate the difficulty of a linguistically demanding environment, similar to those to which bilinguals are usually exposed.
The results showed a clear advantage of bilingual participants in the recall of future intentions. Specifically, they showed greater comprehension during text reading, as well as greater recall of prospective intent. This pattern of results suggested that bilinguals are more efficient at monitoring (i.e., supervising and revising) the task. Additionally, bilingual participants were asked to complete the task in their second language. When comparing the bilinguals' comprehension in their two languages, the results indicated that, in addition to a worse overall comprehension of the texts in the second language, there was also a worse recall of intentions compared to when completed in the native language. In fact, performance of bilinguals in their second language was similar to that of monolinguals working in their native language.
Overall, the findings of this study suggest that certain memory processes may vary according to linguistic context. Thus, this research provides a starting point for further exploration of the different ways in which bilingualism modifies our thinking and remembering.
Contact:
Cristina López-Rojas
Reference:
López-Rojas, C., Marful, A., Pérez, A., & Bajo, M. (2023). Prospective memory in bilinguals: Recalling future intentions in first and second language contexts. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1-16. doi:10.1017/S136672892300010X