A study of the links between trilingualism, short term memory and attentional control

Some studies observed a cognitive advantage in bilingual/multilingual speakers, while other studies have recently questioned the existence of such an advantage. The aim of this study was to assess the potential cognitive advantages of trilingualism, by focusing on two cognitive functions that have been rarely explored in the context of multilingualism while being strongly recruited during language learning and processing, namely auditory-verbal short term memory and attention. In 51 participants raised in Luxembourg and speaking at least three languages (Luxembourgish, German, French), auditory-verbal short term memory abilities were assessed via immediate serial recall tasks while attentional abilities were assessed via auditory-verbal running spans under different attentional control demands. Using Bayesian regression analysis, we observed strong evidence for an association between trilingual language proficiency and auditory-verbal short term memory as well as attentional abilities, while controlling for general intellectual efficiency. This study suggests that auditory-verbal short-term memory and attention are important candidate cognitive functions for the exploration of the potential cognitive advantages associated with the study and mastery of multiple languages.