USING TWO LANGUAGES ALSO KEEPS ADULTS ALERT: Researchers have found that the use of multiple languages protects bilingual older adults from the slowing down of cognitive abilities as they age. In a test that measured attention, the cognitive skills of bilingual adults were higher than the cognitive skills of monolingual adults of the same age. Older adults showed a slowdown in cognitive skills, but less so than monolingual adults.
ABOUT SOCIOLOGY: Sociology is a social science that studies the behavior of people, groups, and societies in terms of their social interactions. This includes strangers passing on the street and international processes. It includes other disciplines such as history, psychology and economics, as well as following social groups as they move through time.
The American Sociological Association contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.