The Association Between Musical Training, Bilingualism, and Executive Function

Previous research has shown far transfer effects of skill training, such as bilingualism and musical training, on executive function. Despite a growing interest in the subject, some areas of higher cognition have been left under- or un-examined. This dissertation presents two papers that investigated whether exposure to bilingualism or musical training was associated with improvements in four specific domains of executive function, including working memory, inhibitory control, task switching, and dual task performance. Results for working memory and inhibition are presented in Paper 1 and those for task switching and dual task performance are reported in Paper 2. Both papers are based on the same sample of participants, which included 153 university students, who were matched on age and socio-economic status. In Paper 1, results demonstrated a musician advantage on working memory and interference suppression tasks, but not on response inhibition. In comparison, bilinguals did not demonstrate advantages on working memory or inhibitory control abilities compared to monolinguals. Moreover, a combined effect of bilingualism and musical training was not found. Similarly, in Paper 2, results demonstrated cognitive advantages in task switching and dual task performance among musicians compared with non-musicians. However, bilinguals did not demonstrate advantages on either construct relative to monolinguals, and additive effects of bilingualism and musical training were not detected. Taken together, the findings further our understanding of the different domains of cognition that are impacted by musical training, including areas, such as dual task performance, that have not been examined thus far. Moreover, the findings support previous research demonstrating associations between musical training and improvements in executive function, while recognizing that associations between bilingualism and executive function may require further investigation.