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Cognitive Architecture of Bilingual Language Processing

Award Number: R01HD059858
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/15/2010
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2027

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Cognitive Architecture of Bilingual Language Processing - Project Summary/Abstract The proportion of bilingual speakers in the United States is increasing and the majority of the world's population is bilingual or multilingual, yet most accounts of human cognition are based on monolingualism. The proposed research uses bilingualism as a means to study general principles underlying human language, cognition, and the brain, as well as an end in itself to understand how the rapidly growing bilingual segment of the population processes language and performs on cognitive tasks. The objective of the proposed research is to examine the relationship between language interaction and higher order cognition in bilinguals and to study the consequences of language co-activation for memory (Aim 1), decision making (Aim 2), and semantic organization (Aim 3). The approach relies on interdisciplinary methods that include eye-tracking, EEG, advanced multilevel statistical modeling, and cognitive and linguistic testing of Spanish-English bilinguals (the largest bilingual population in the U.S.) and Korean-English bilinguals (to dissociate effects of phonology and orthography). Our previous research has shown that bilinguals co-activate both languages in parallel during language comprehension. Studies 1-3 aim to uncover how co-activation of the two languages during visual search influences later memory for previously-seen target and competitor items. Studies 4-6 focus on the influence of bilingualism and language co-activation on decision making. Studies 7-9 examine how experience with two interacting languages changes the organization of the semantic network. Within each Aim, the first experiment establishes the key phenomenon, the second takes a fine-grained look at the underlying mechanisms, and the third tests the generalizability of the main effect under more stringent conditions. The proposed research is innovative in linking language co-activation and higher order cognition in bilinguals and in looking at how online sensory and linguistic processing of auditory and visual input impacts what bilinguals subsequently remember, how they make decisions, and how they represent knowledge. The proposed studies are theoretically significant by providing insight into the relationship between language and higher order cognition from the unique vantage point of bilingualism and by contributing to understanding how experience with multiple languages reconfigures cognitive architecture. Addressing broader societal needs, this work has applied significance for the large segment of the population speaking more than one language, for whom clinical, educational, and social outcomes can be improved by developing interventions that capitalize on the interaction between the two languages -- for example, to improve memory in individuals who experience memory decline (including older adults), to optimize decision making (including in healthcare settings), and to promote learning and semantic development across the lifespan. Public health depends on accurate accounts of cognitive and neural function, and the proposed research contributes to the development of such accounts for linguistically diverse populations.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $603,002 )
2025	2025	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	14	8/22/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$603,002
														Subtotal = $603,002

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $592,776 )
2024	2024	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	002	13	8/12/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$592,776
2024	2022	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	11	7/19/2024	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$293,376
2024	2021	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	10	7/19/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$293,376
														Subtotal = $592,776

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $605,754 )
2023	2023	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK STREET	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	12	8/21/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$605,754
														Subtotal = $605,754

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $627,789 )
2022	2022	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	11	9/22/2022	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$627,789
2022	2021	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	10	9/5/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $627,789

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $377,367 )
2021	2021	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	10	6/30/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$377,367
														Subtotal = $377,367

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $385,542 )
2020	2020	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	9	4/22/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$385,542
														Subtotal = $385,542

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $367,461 )
2019	2019	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST EVANSTON	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	8	3/27/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$367,461
														Subtotal = $367,461

Issue Date FY: 2018 ( Subtotal = $386,421 )
2018	2018	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST EVANSTON	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	002	7	4/19/2018	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$386,421
2018	2017	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST EVANSTON	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	6	10/30/2017	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$6,443
2018	2014	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST EVANSTON	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	5	10/30/2017	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$6,443
														Subtotal = $386,421

Issue Date FY: 2017 ( Subtotal = $379,059 )
2017	2017	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST EVANSTON	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	6	7/24/2017	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$6,999
2017	2017	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST EVANSTON	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	6	6/1/2017	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$372,060
														Subtotal = $379,059

Issue Date FY: 2016 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2016	2014	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK STREET	EVANSTON	IL	60201	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	5	6/1/2016	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2014 ( Subtotal = $260,816 )
2014	2014	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK STREET	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	5	5/23/2014	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$260,816
														Subtotal = $260,816

Issue Date FY: 2013 ( Subtotal = $254,785 )
2013	2013	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK STREET	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	4	6/10/2013	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$254,785
														Subtotal = $254,785

Issue Date FY: 2012 ( Subtotal = $268,620 )
2012	2012	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK STREET	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	4/27/2012	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$268,620
														Subtotal = $268,620

Issue Date FY: 2011 ( Subtotal = $252,027 )
2011	2011	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK STREET	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	2	6/9/2011	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$252,027
														Subtotal = $252,027

Issue Date FY: 2010 ( Subtotal = $274,870 )
2010	2010	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK STREET	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	7/7/2010	NEW	$274,870
														Subtotal = $274,870

Grand Total All Awards = $5,636,289

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Cognitive Architecture of Bilingual Language Processing

Award Number: R01HD059858

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/15/2010

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2027

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