In 1977, the (American Institute for Research) published an influential study which discussed bilingualism as it relates to education and what effects there are on a child's performance maintaining with the class.[16] This study, along with other research of its time, played a large role in our understanding of multilingualism and the effects that it has on the brain. While historically relevant and necessary, in context of meeting today's modern methodological standards, these studies in particular are argued to be missing necessary pieces of data that create controversy over their credibility.