Dissertation

Digit Span Performance Among Bilingual Individuals

Ramirez, Nathan R

2023

Overview

Patients’ bilingual status has significant implications for neuropsychological assessment. This is particularly true for the assessment of verbally mediated abilities. Digit Span is a commonly used task that assesses auditory working memory for serially presented digits. Previous research has shown both bilingual advantages for tasks of executive functioning like Digit Span. However, the relationship between bilingualism and performance on this subtest is poorly understood. This research the relationship between bilingual status and how Hispanic Spanish-English bilinguals perform on this commonly administered working memory subtest. Participants were 82 Hispanic Spanish-English bilinguals. Participants were a community sample of Hispanic, Spanish-English bilingual adults who completed the Language and Social Background Questionnaire (LSBQ), the Digit Span subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV), and a demographic questionnaire via Zoom, an online video conferencing platform. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis using SPSS Version 27 was utilized to predict participants’ Digit Span performance based on their LSBQ composite factor scores. Age was used as a covariate, as this variable is known to have implications for Digit Span performance. LSBQ composite factor scores significantly predicted Digit Span Forward and Longest Digit Span Forward scores. LSBQ composite factor scores did not significantly predict Digit Span Backward, Digit Span Sequencing, Digit Span Total, Longest Digit Span Backward, or Longest Digit Span sequencing. Results suggest that Hispanic Spanish-English bilinguals perform worse on Digit Span Forward and Longest Digit Span Forward as their bilingual language use increases. However, degree of bilingual language use did not significantly predict Digit Span Backward, Digit Span Sequencing, Digit Span Total, Longest Digit Span Backward, or Longest Digit Span Sequencing scores. The contrasts in Digit Span performance may be attributed to the different ways in which each condition of the subtest is cognitively processed. Digit Span Forward is predominantly processed using the phonological loop; Digit Span Backward and Sequencing access the visuospatial sketchpad. Although the results are statistically significant, they may not be clinically significant enough for clinicians to consider, as bilingualism accounts for a low amount of statistical variance in Digit Span performance.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Psychology
• ISBN: 9798371983381