Differences in language exposure and its effects on memory flexibility in monolingual, bilingual, and trilingual infants

Abstract

Bilingual advantages in memory flexibility, indexed using a memory generalization task, have been reported (Brito & Barr,/n2012; 2014), and the present study examines what factors may influence memory performance. The first experiment examines/nthe role of language similarity; bilingual 18-month-old infants exposed to two similar languages (Spanish–Catalan) or two/nmore different (English–Spanish) languages were tested on a memory generalization task and compared to monolingual/n18-month-olds. The second experiment compares performance by trilingual 18-month-olds to monolingual and bilingual/ninfants’ performance from the first experiment. The bilingual advantage in memory flexibility was robust; both bilingual/ngroups outperformed the monolingual groups, with no significant differences between bilingual groups. Interestingly, an/nadvantage was not found for infants exposed to three languages. These findings demonstrate early emerging differences in/nmemory flexibility, and have important implications for our understanding of how early environmental variations shape the/ntrajectory of memory development.