The relationship between bilingualism and cognitive flexibility
While attending a psychology
careers presentation, I learned about the Human Factors and Applied Cognition program
offered at George Mason. I researched the program and its corresponding
undergraduate courses. I also began exploring ways to become involved in
research, and I soon became a research assistant in Dr. Robert Youmans’
creativity research laboratory. I have
already obtained firsthand research experience on creativity and design
fixation. Ultimately, I would like to pursue a career in the field of Human
Factors upon receiving a Masters of Arts degree. Becoming an OSCAR scholarship
recipient will provide me with further research experience that will lead me to
improve my written communication skills, and strengthen my knowledge of
research.
The origin of my project stems
from my interest in researching the advantages of bilingualism. I am Jamaican
and I have a strong connection to my cultural background. As part of my
education in Jamaica, I had to learn about different cultures particularly
because Jamaican Creole is made up of several languages (i.e., English, Dutch,
Spanish and French). This semester, I have been helping conduct research on
Human Factors-related topics, such as individual differences in working memory
capacity and cognitive flexibility. This research has leaded me to develop my
own research project, which explores what mental advantages a bilingual person
may possess. My project objective is to explore the relationship between
bilingualism and cognitive flexibility. The purpose of the study is to find out
if bilinguals outperform monolinguals on a behavioral assessment task.
At the start of every week, I
write down the objective for each day. If they are not met, I complete it in
another day. My week is usually composed of data collection, talking to
international clubs and speaking with my mentor. This week I discovered that
the Institutional Review Board is more concerned with the safety of the
participants rather than the science of project. The IRB is interested in the
purpose and the instrumentation of the research, but they want to make
participants will be safe and the project is without risk.
