Resumen de Second language (L2) proficiency, socioeconomic status (SES), and intelligence (IQ) are significant predictors of cognitive control differences among young adult unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals

Zhilong Xie, Teresa Signorelli Pisano

• The current study investigates how second-language (L2) proficiency contributes to cognitive control differences among three groups of unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals matched for socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence (IQ), education, age, culture, and L1 background. A Flanker task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were administered to measure conflict monitoring, inhibition, and mental set shifting. ANOVA analyses revealed faster performance for the High-L2 Group compared to the Low-L2 Group in the congruent, neutral, and incongruent conditions of the Flanker task. However, there were no group differences on the WCST. Multiple step-wise regression analyses showed that L2 proficiency was a predictor for the Flanker task performance in all three conditions, SES in the neutral and the incongruent condition, and IQ in the congruent condition. These results suggest that L2 proficiency, along with SES and IQ, contribute significantly to cognitive control differences in conflict monitoring among young-adult bilinguals.