IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v13y2023i3p21582440231193330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Attention: The Cognitive Effects of Learning to Read in Arabic by Chinese Learners at an Old Age

Author

Listed:
  • Hong Liu

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a retrospective study that investigates the cognitive effects of learning a foreign language in late adulthood. The learner group, consisting of 21 L1 Chinese speakers who have been learning to read Arabic for 2 years and 4 months, were compared to the matched group on their performance on a series of cognitive tasks that tap into working memory, processing speed, reasoning, conflict monitoring, and attention. The results showed that the learning group’s performance was significantly better in attention (measured by the Posner cueing attention task). Their working memory capacities (measured by the digit span tests) were also better, but the difference only reached marginal significance. The findings suggest that language learning may lead to improvement in attention abilities, which is in line with the converging evidence in the field of bilingualism showing that executive attention may underlie the mechanism of how bilingual experience can alter brain and the cognitive system.

Suggested Citation

  • Hong Liu, 2023. "Attention: The Cognitive Effects of Learning to Read in Arabic by Chinese Learners at an Old Age," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:3:p:21582440231193330
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440231193330
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440231193330
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440231193330?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kara L. Bopp & Paul Verhaeghen, 2005. "Aging and Verbal Memory Span: A Meta-Analysis," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(5), pages 223-233.
    2. João Veríssimo & Paul Verhaeghen & Noreen Goldman & Maxine Weinstein & Michael T. Ullman, 2022. "Evidence that ageing yields improvements as well as declines across attention and executive functions," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 97-110, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wongupparaj, Peera & Wongupparaj, Rangsirat & Kumari, Veena & Morris, Robin G., 2017. "The Flynn effect for verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory: A cross-temporal meta-analysis," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 71-80.
    2. Rafael Román-Caballero & Marisa Arnedo & Mónica Triviño & Juan Lupiáñez, 2018. "Musical practice as an enhancer of cognitive function in healthy aging - A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Teal S Eich & Anna MacKay-Brandt & Yaakov Stern & Daniel Gopher, 2018. "Age-Based Differences in Task Switching Are Moderated by Executive Control Demands," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(6), pages 954-963.
    4. Oberholzer, Yvonne & Olschewski, Sebastian & Scheibehenne, Benjamin, 2024. "Complexity aversion in risky choices and valuations: Moderators and possible causes," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    5. Pahlen, Shandell & Hamdi, Nayla R. & Dahl Aslan, Anna K. & Horwitz, Briana N. & Panizzon, Matthew S. & Petersen, Inge & Zavala, Catalina & Christensen, Kaare & Finkel, Deborah & Franz, Carol E. & Gatz, 2018. "Age-moderation of genetic and environmental contributions to cognitive functioning in mid- and late-life for specific cognitive abilities," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 70-81.
    6. Henseke, Golo & Tivig, Thusnelda, 2008. "Age, occupations, and opportunities for older workers in Germany," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 86, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    7. Kara L Bopp & Paul Verhaeghen & Nicole Anderson, 2020. "Aging and n-Back Performance: A Meta-Analysis," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 75(2), pages 229-240.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:3:p:21582440231193330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.