Article 1: A Bilingual Advantage for Episodic Memory in Older Adults

• Research Focus: Correlation between episodic memory and bilingualism in older adults.

• Researchers: Scott R. Schroder and Viorica Marian.

• Participant Demographics:

  • Total: 36 older adults.

  • Age Range: 73 to 88 years old.

  • Gender Ratio: 17 males, 19 females.

  • Groups: Split into bilingual and monolingual (using self-reported fluency questionnaires).

• Experiment Design:

  • Episodic Memory Measurement:

    • Participants shown photos quickly.

    • Required to recall all remembered photos.

    • Evaluation based on average recall.

  • Simon Task:

    • Task involved sorting blue and brown rectangles.

    • Measured inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility.

• Results:

  • Bilingual group recalled an average of 12.0 pictures, monolingual group only 7.3 pictures.

  • Indicates significant correlation between bilingualism and memory due to stronger neural connections that support recalling two languages.

  • Bilinguals showed better inhibitory control in the Simon Task compared to monolingual participants.

• Conclusion: Findings support initial hypothesis of bilingualism enhancing episodic memory and cognitive flexibility due to enhanced neural connections.

Article 2: Language-Dependent Memory in Bilingual Learning

• Research Focus: Investigating how memory recall changes based on language of encoding.

• Researchers: Viorica Marian and Caitlin M. Fausey.

• Participant Demographics:

  • Total: 24 bilingual English-Spanish speakers from Chile.

  • Used self-report questionnaires for language proficiency.

• Variables of Interest:

  • Language of encoding (language learned in) and language of retrieval (language recalled).

• Experiment Design:

  • Participants taught material in both English and Spanish with equal time dedicated to each.

  • Recall assessed in either language after teaching.

  • Measured to obtain reaction times and accuracy during recall.

• Results:

  • Higher accuracy and quicker retrieval when encoding and retrieval languages matched.

  • Better performance in Spanish than in English overall (indicating native language effects).

  • Language switching negatively affects retrieval speed and accuracy.

• Conclusion: Supports the hypothesis that consistent language usage during encoding and retrieval optimizes memory performance. Switching languages reduces effectiveness in recall.