Bilingual Cognition with Professor Megan Zirnstein

What can the bilingual brain accomplish more efficiently than the monolingual brain? Megan Zirnstein, a cognitive science professor at Pomona College, researches bilingual cognition, a topic of particular interest throughout this episode. In addition to discussing Professor Zirnstein's research, we talk about the field of cognitive science and bilingualism research: where it's headed, where it came from, and why it's such a multidisciplinary and slightly amorphous corner of academia. And of course, in a move that will surprise no one, we talk about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, linguistic determinism, linguistic relativity, and the causal relationship between the emotional resonance of a language and decision making. Key topics and concepts mentioned in this episode include: psycholinguistic literature (eg, Alan Green's adaptive control hypothesis), Lera Boroditsky, the eugenicist history of bilingualism research, ways to confront and address bias in research methods, and the fundamental differences between cognitive scientists and linguistics. Check out the links below to watch Lera Boroditsky, read Prof Z's research, and much more!

Prof Z's research:

• Google Scholar -- All publications
• Bilingualism reveals fundamental variation in language processing
• Cognitive Control Ability Mediates Prediction Costs in Monolinguals and Bilinguals
• On The Dynamics of Lexical Access In Two or More Languages

Literature/TedTalks mentioned throughout episode:

• Lera Boroditsky: "How language shapes the way we think"
• Adaptive Control Hypothesis On Bilingual Advantage
• Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis
• Behavioral evidence for differences in emotional resonance during processing first and second language