A Comparative Study of Shifting Ability, Inhibitory Control and Working Memory in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

• Published in: Psychological studies Vol. 62; no. 4; pp. 421 - 427
• Main Authors: Mehrani, Mehdi B., Zabihi, Reza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01.12.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Bilingualism; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive development; Comparative studies; Executive function; General Psychology; Hypotheses; Language; Linguistics; Memory; Personality and Social Psychology; Phonology; Psychology; Research in Progress; Researchers; Executive functions; Inhibitory control; Bilingualism; Shifting; Working memory
• ISSN: 0033-2968; 0974-9861
• DOI: 10.1007/s12646-017-0432-8

It is now well documented that the linguistic development of bilingual children is, in many respects, different from that of their monolingual peers. Yet, there is substantial evidence in cognitive psychology that the effect of bilingualism is not merely restricted to the linguistic competence of individuals. Recent literature on bilingualism suggests that certain aspects of children’s cognitive development can be positively affected by the bilingual experience. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential effects of bilingual experience on young children’s executive processing. A total of 67 preschool children belonging to two groups including 36 Persian–Turkish bilingual children and 31 Persian monolingual children participated in the study. They were matched for their verbal proficiency and then were compared on three executive function tasks including shifting ability, inhibitory control and working memory. Results showed that bilingual children outperformed monolinguals on both shifting and inhibitory control tasks. However, both groups performed similarly on working memory tasks. The findings are interpreted in terms of the enhanced ability of bilingual children in various executive functions processing.