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Updated: May 20, 2026
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Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
Published on: May 15, 2019
A bilingual advantage in visual language discrimination in infancy.
Núria Sebastián-Gallés1, Bàrbara Albareda-Castellot, Whitney M Weikum
1Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Technology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. nuria.sebastian@upf.edu
Psychological Science
|July 20, 2012
Summary
Bilingual infants, unlike monolinguals, can detect language switching between French and English. This suggests early bilingual experience shapes attentional systems, potentially explaining cognitive advantages in bilinguals.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- The cognitive benefits observed in bilingual individuals are not fully understood.
- A key hypothesis suggests that the ability to manage multiple languages from an early age underlies these advantages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether early exposure to two languages influences infants' ability to differentiate between languages.
- To test if the capacity to separate and learn properties of native languages contributes to cognitive differences.
Main Methods:
- Infants (Spanish-Catalan bilinguals and monolinguals) observed silent videos of bilingual speakers.
- Infants were tested on their ability to detect language changes (French to English and vice versa).
- Performance was compared to previously studied French-English bilingual and English monolingual infants.
Main Results:
- Monolingual infants in all groups failed to detect language changes.
- Both Spanish-Catalan bilingual infants and previously studied French-English bilingual infants successfully detected the language switches.
- Bilingual infants demonstrated an ability to discriminate between languages without explicit training.
Conclusions:
- Bilingual experience can enhance attentional systems from an early age.
- This early modulation of attention provides a foundation for understanding the cognitive advantages associated with bilingualism.
- The findings support the role of early language tracking in the development of general cognitive benefits.
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