Executive control functions and theory of mind among plurilingual adults

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study examined the effect of language status on executive control functions (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) among plurilingual adults after controlling the effect of fluid intelligence. Eighty-nine university students with one (n = 44) and two (n = 45) language dominance took part in the study and their fluid intelligence was matched across the groups. The various components of EF were assessed using trail-making task (attention), block span (working memory), Stroop task (inhibition), and card sorting (cognitive flexibility) and the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test” was employed to assess ToM. The results showed that two language dominant plurilinguals (2-LD) outperformed one language dominant plurilinguals (1-LD) on Stroop, card sorting, and ToM tasks after controlling for fluid intelligence. It suggests that the dominance of two languages substantially enhances a person’s executive control functions and mental state reasoning, which is over and above the influence of fluid intelligence.