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Effect of bilingualism on infants’ cognitive flexibility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2021

Diane Poulin-Dubois ,
Cassandra Neumann ,
Sandra Masoud  and
Adina Gazith
Diane Poulin-Dubois*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Psychology, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Cassandra Neumann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Psychology, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Sandra Masoud
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Psychology, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Adina Gazith
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Psychology, Montréal, QC, Canada.
*
Address for correspondence: Diane Poulin-Dubois, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H4B 1R6 Diane.PoulinDubois@concordia.ca
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Abstract

Research suggests that bilinguals often outperform monolinguals on tasks that tap into executive functions, such as those requiring conflict resolution and cognitive flexibility. Recently, better attentional control has been detected in infants as young as 6 months, thereby providing a possible basis for a cognitive benefit before language production. The goal of the present study was to examine if cognitive flexibility is more advanced in bilingual infants. A detour reaching task assessing conflict resolution, a delayed response task assessing shifting, and a multiple location task assessing maintaining, were administered to 17-month-old infants. The main findings revealed that being bilingual did not improve performance on any of the executive function tasks. Furthermore, current exposure to a second language or language proficiency did not impact executive functioning. We conclude that a bilingual advantage in cognitive flexibility may not be present before children have enough experience in code switching.

Keywords

infancybilingualismexecutive functioningcognitive flexibilityinhibitory control
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , May 2022 , pp. 484 - 497
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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