Bilingualism and performance on two widely used developmental neuropsychological test batteries.
The present study investigated the effect of bilingualism on the two widely used developmental neuropsychological test batteries Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment, Second Edition (NEPSY-II) in children. The sample consisted of 100 Finland-Swedish children in two age groups. About half (n = 52) of the participants were early simultaneous bilinguals, and the other half (n = 48) were monolinguals. As no Finland-Swedish versions of the tests are available at the moment, both tests were translated and adapted to suit this population. The results revealed no difference in the performance between bilingual and monolingual children. This speaks against a cognitive advantage in bilingual children and indicates that development of separate norms for monolingual and bilingual children is not needed for clinical use.
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Linda C
LC
Karlsson
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Anna
A
Soveri
Niilo Mäki Institute, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Pekka
P
Räsänen
Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Antti
A
Kärnä
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Sonia
S
Delatte
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Emma
E
Lagerström
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Lena
L
Mård
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Mikaela
M
Steffansson
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Minna
M
Lehtonen
Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Matti
M
Laine
D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013548:Sweden; D014888:Wechsler Scales