Abstract

The bilingual cognitive advantage hypothesis posits that bilingual children exhibit stronger executive functioning, particularly in inhibitory control, compared to monolingual children. While several studies have provided support for this hypothesis, most research has focused on school-age children. The present study examined whether this advantage is present early in life with the Early Childhood Inhibitory Touchscreen Task (ECITT). This task offers a reliable method for measuring response inhibition in infants, requiring them to shift their responses from a previously rewarded location to a new one. It minimizes language and memory demands while engaging infants through animations, making it an ideal measure for very young children. A sample of 60 infants (aged 16-24 months) was tested, with language exposure measured on a continuum using the Language Exposure Assessment Tool (LEAT). Vocabulary was assessed using the McArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI), and a range of executive functions were assessed using the Early Executive Functions Questionnaire (EEFQ), including inhibitory control. The ECITT data replicate previous research, showing that overall performance on this task improves with age. However, inhibition control skills did not vary as a function of the amount of second language exposure nor age. Finally, vocabulary size was positively correlated with inhibition control. The current results suggest that a bilingual cognitive advantage may not develop until the end of the second year.