The Adaptive Control Hypothesis and the Control Process Model propose that bilingual language use in different interactional contexts requires control processes that can adapt in different ways to linguistic demands. This study explored the effects of language experience on cognitive flexibility and inhibition among 41 Chinese–English bilingual adults. In particular, it aimed to investigate the relationship between spontaneous language production (i.e., bilingual conversation and narration tasks) and cognitive control. Participants’ inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility efficiency was measured through verbal and spatial Stroop tasks, and a colour-shape switching task. Overall, it showed that frequent practices of intersentential switching in speech production resulted in significant facilitatory effects in both verbal and nonverbal inhibitory control. This study provides new evidence for the importance of bilingual language experience in adaptive cognitive control in naturalistic speech production and furthers our theoretical knowledge of the relationship between the language system and crucial domain-general cognitive processes.

中文翻译：

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调节双语语言产生和认知控制：双语语言体验如何重要

自适应控制假说和控制过程模型提出，在不同的交互环境中使用双语需要能够以不同方式适应语言需求的控制过程。本研究探讨了 41 名汉英双语成年人的语言体验对认知灵活性和抑制性的影响。特别是，它旨在研究自发语言产生（即双语对话和叙述任务）与认知控制之间的关系。通过言语和空间斯特鲁普任务以及颜色形状转换任务来测量参与者的抑制控制和认知灵活性效率。总体而言，研究表明，言语产生中频繁进行句间转换会对言语和非言语抑制控制产生显着的促进作用。这项研究为双语语言体验在自然语言产生的适应性认知控制中的重要性提供了新的证据，并进一步加深了我们对语言系统与关键领域一般认知过程之间关系的理论认识。