title: A bilingual disadvantage in metacognitive processing.
abstract: Recent research indicating that bilingualism is associated with enhanced executive function suggests that this enhancement may operate within a broader spectrum of cognitive abilities than previously thought (e.g., Stocco & Prat, 2014). In this study, we focus on metacognition or the ability to evaluate one's own cognitive performance (Flavell, 1979). Over the course of two experiments, we presented young healthy adult monolinguals and bilinguals with a perceptual two-alternative-forced-choice task followed by confidence judgements. Results from both experiments indicated that bilingual participants showed a disadvantage in metacognitive efficiency, determined through the calculation of Mratio (Maniscalco & Lau, 2014). Our findings provide novel insight into the potential differences in bilingual and monolingual cognition, which may indicate a bilingual disadvantage. Results are discussed with reference to the balance of advantages versus disadvantages associated with multilanguage learning.
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. Electronic address: tomas.folke@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Folke
authors.affiliation: Anglia Ruskin University, Department of Psychology, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, United Kingdom. Electronic address: jouzia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ouzia
authors.affiliation: Anglia Ruskin University, Department of Psychology, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bright
authors.affiliation: University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Benedetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Martino
authors.affiliation: Anglia Ruskin University, Department of Psychology, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, United Kingdom; Developmental Neurocognition Lab, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Filippi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000067489:Metacognition / Q000502:physiology*; D019303:Multilingualism; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bilingual advantage; Bilingualism; Metacognition; Mratio