Abstract This study examines how linguistic differences between Chinese and European languages influence cognitive functions. Two experiments compared cognitive performance between Chinese and European undergraduates. Experiment 1 compared Chinese and European bilinguals (e.g., Chinese-English versus French-English) studying at an English university. Chinese bilinguals exhibited stronger executive control, inhibitory control and mental rotation, suggesting that greater linguistic distance enhances cognitive control. Experiment 2 examined native Chinese and English speakers in their respective countries, isolating language-script effects. Chinese speakers performed better in visual attention (i.e., orienting and facilitation) and mental rotation, while English speakers exhibited superior performance in auditory attention (i.e., attentional switching). These differences likely stem from language-script characteristics: logographic Chinese engages visuospatial processing, while alphabetic English reinforces auditory attention flexibility. Collectively, these findings underscore specific cognitive effects associated with linguistic distance and language script and provide comprehensive insights into how language structure modulates domain-specific cognitive adaptations.
Xia et al. (Wed,) studied this question.