Poarch, G. J. 1 & van Hell, J. G. 1, 2
1 Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2 Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
The present study is based on two experiments exploring the bilingual advantage in conflict resolution tasks in children. The Simon Task and the Attentional Networks Task (Simon & Rudell, 1967; Fan et al., 2002) have both been used to tap into participants’ executive functions and have shown bilinguals’ enhanced performance over that of monolinguals. Previously, significant effects have been found predominantly in bilingual children and elderly adults (Bialystok, 1999; Bialystok et al., 2004; Bialystok & Viswanathan, 2009; Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008; Martin-Rhee & Bialystok, 2008; Yang & Lust, 2005), though bilingual adults have also been shown to exhibit an advantage over monolingual adults, albeit to a lesser extent (e.g., Costa et al., 2008; 2009). These advantages have been explained by the facilitated speed of processing in bilinguals when overriding a specific response in order to perform the target response, supposedly stemming from the need to switch languages on a regular basis. The substantial cognitive “training” involved in language switching is believed to have an effect exactly on those regions in a bilingual’s brain that are necessary for conflict resolution.
We compared data from four distinct language groups (n=72), children aged 5-9: German monolinguals, German-English second language learners, German-English bilinguals, and trilinguals who spoke German, English, and a third language. In Experiment 1, children performed the Simon Task, in Experiment 2, the Attentional Network Task (Rueda et al., 2004). The main aim was to compare executive functioning in children with various language backgrounds and proficiencies. Results of the RT data show overall faster response latencies for the bilinguals, but, in contrast to earlier findings, suggest no significant advantages for bilinguals over the other groups in the magnitude of conflict resolution. The data will be discussed against the backdrop of population differences and underlying cognitive control processing issues.