Exploring the effect of language-switching practice over prospective memory in bilinguals

López-Rojas, Cristina; Bajo, Maria Teresa; Marful, Alejandra · 2026 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1017/s1366728925100266

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Summary

This study investigates whether language-switching practice influences prospective memory (PM) performance in bilinguals, specifically examining the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship. Prospective memory requires individuals to monitor an environment for cues to execute future intentions, a process that shares cognitive demands with the language control required by bilinguals in dual-language contexts. While previous research suggested that bilinguals immersed in switching contexts exhibit enhanced PM monitoring, this study experimentally simulated such exposure. The researchers aimed to determine if short-term language-switching training would modulate the specific cognitive processes involved in PM, distinguishing between prospective processes (monitoring and switching) and retrospective processes (retrieval of intentions). The experiment involved 56 Spanish–English bilinguals from a single-language context, randomly assigned to either a switching practice group or a control group. Participants in the switching group completed a 20-minute picture-naming task requiring frequent switches between their first and second languages prior to the main task. Both groups then performed a prospective memory task embedded within a 2-back ongoing activity. Participants had to detect specific PM cues (letters or colors) and press corresponding keys while maintaining the ongoing task. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to analyze neural activity associated with PM processes. The study focused on prospective components, specifically the N300 and frontal positivity, which are linked to cue detection and switching, as well as retrospective components, the P3b and frontal slow waves, associated with intention retrieval and updating. The results indicated that language-switching practice significantly affected the neural signals associated with prospective processes. The practice group exhibited greater wave amplitudes in the N300 and frontal positivity components compared to the control group, suggesting enhanced monitoring and switching efficiency. These findings imply that the practice facilitated the detection of PM cues and the transition from the ongoing task to the prospective intention. Conversely, the practice had no significant effect on the retrospective components (P3b and frontal slow waves), indicating that the retrieval of the intention from long-term memory was not modulated by the language-switching training. Behavioral data supported these neural findings, showing that the practice primarily influenced the efficiency of cue detection and switching rather than the recall of the intention itself. The significance of these findings lies in the demonstration that the interactional context in which bilinguals operate modulates their cognitive control strategies. The study provides evidence that mechanisms engaged during language switching, particularly monitoring and switching, are shared with those required for prospective memory. By experimentally inducing language-switching practice, the researchers showed that even short-term exposure to switching demands can enhance the neural efficiency of monitoring processes in PM tasks. This supports the Adaptive Control Hypothesis, suggesting that bilinguals adapt their cognitive control strategies based on their linguistic environment. The results highlight that while language switching enhances the proactive monitoring of environmental cues, it does not necessarily alter the retrospective retrieval mechanisms, offering a nuanced understanding of how bilingual experience shapes domain-general cognitive functions.

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• prospective memory interruptions