Výkon bilingválnych jednotlivcov pri psychodiagnostickom vyšetrení kognitívnych funkcií v ich prvom a druhom jazyku

The aim of the study was to compare the performance of bilingual individuals in testing attention, memory and intelligence using their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. These abilities were selected by us based on the fact that they are the diagnostic criteria of many diagnostic units, e.g. ADHD, ADD etc., so if they are not correctly determined, there is a chance of issuing inadequate psychological report. The issue of psychological testing of bilingual individuals is also topical problem in other European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Croatia etc., where there is also a large percentage of ethnic minorities, but also countries outside of Europe, such as the USA are no exception. Our intention was to test the implicit assumption that the performance of bilingual individuals deteriorates during psychodiagnostic testing, if the test is not performed in their first language. The sample consisted of 126 bilingual respondents with an average age of 17.87 (SD = 7.77), of which 66 were female and 60 male. The sample was divided into four age related groups - young school age children, preadolescent, adolescencents and adults. The selected cognitive abilities were measured by using Slovak and Hungarian language forms of the following psychological tests: Number Square, Learning Memory Test; Wechsler Intelligence Test for Adults (WAIS-R) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC III). The results indicate a deterioration of performance at psychodiagnostic test of attention, memory and intelligence using L2 of bilinguals regardless of their age. The conclusion of the study shows the importance of choosing appropriate language for psychological testing for bilingual clients in order to eliminate adverse conditions compared to monolingual clients.