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Cited by 616Language Development and DisordersNeurobiology of Language and BilingualismChild and Animal Learning Development

Cognitive gains in 7-month-old bilingual infants

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Kovács, Ágnes Melinda, Mehler, Jacques·2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.0811323106PMC PMC2672482
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Abstract

Children exposed to bilingual input typically learn 2 languages without obvious difficulties. However, it is unclear how preverbal infants cope with the inconsistent input and how bilingualism affects early development. In 3 eye-tracking studies we show that 7-month-old infants, raised with 2 languages from birth, display improved cognitive control abilities compared with matched monolinguals. Whereas both monolinguals and bilinguals learned to respond to a speech or visual cue to anticipate a reward on one side of a screen, only bilinguals succeeded in redirecting their anticipatory looks when the cue began signaling the reward on the opposite side. Bilingual infants rapidly suppressed their looks to the first location and learned the new response. These findings show that processing representations from 2 languages leads to a domain-general enhancement of the cognitive control system well before the onset of speech.

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  • Relative to monolingual infants, bilingual infants have enhanced executive control and attentional function afforded by bilingualism.

    “there is enhanced executive control and attentional function afforded by bilingualism (Kovács and Mehler, 2009);”

    From Plasticity, Variability and Age in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism (2018) · cites this paper as Kovács and Mehler, 2009

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Authors
Kovács, Á. M., & Mehler, J.
Affiliations
  • Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (IT)
  • Harvard University (US)
ORCID
Kovács, Ágnes Melinda
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2009-04-21
Volume
106
Issue
16
Pages
6556-6560
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.0811323106
PMC
PMC2672482
OpenAlex
W1989880614
Cited by
616
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 59 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 57 · 2015: 43 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 38
FWCI
46.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open Research (Auckland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • James S. McDonnell Foundation
  • European Commission
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
Keywords
bilingual infants, cognitive control, infant language acquisition, anticipatory looking, visual attention, reward anticipation, cross-linguistic interference, early childhood cognitive development
MeSH terms
Acoustic Stimulation, Cognition, Cues, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Photic Stimulation, Multilingualism

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