Effects of Bilingualism on Linguistic, Cognitive and Social Functioning

Project's Details

Title: Effects of Bilingualism on Linguistic, Cognitive and Social Functioning

Funded by: Centre for Family and Population Research

Amount: $10,000

PI: A/Prof Leher Singh

Project duration: 1 Dec 2021 to 30 Apr 2023

 

Abstract

“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.” 

Charlotte Brontë

 

Race discrimination and bias present serious and pervasive threats to our society. A common misperception about racial bias is that children are initially free of bias and that they grow into prejudiced behavior. However, a growing body of psychological research argues persuasively against this misperception: race bias is evident very early in life. Some forms of racial bias can be observed as early as infancy (e.g., Singh, Quinn, Xiao, & Lee, 2019; Singh, Tan, Lee, & Quinn, 2020; Xiao et al., 2018) as well as in early childhood (Qian et al., 2016; Singh, Quinn, Qian, & Lee, 2020). Nevertheless, particular conditions have been shown to exacerbate or attenuate bias. Empirical evidence on the origins and determinants of bias aligns with Charlotte Brontë’s prescient quotation in demonstrating that the potential for bias is present at the earliest stages of life, yet under the right conditions, the experience can counteract these early predispositions.

 

The overarching goal of this project is to identify effective mechanisms to curb racial bias and to cultivate inclusive attitudes in our youngest citizens. We plan to implement a randomized control trial to reduce racial bias in young children. This question has high theoretical significance in that it asks how attitudes are shifted in order to promote inter-group harmony. It also has high practical value in asking how the early formation of racial bias in young children can be curbed to promote inclusiveness at a societal level. In this study, we investigate both implicit and explicit bias. Implicit bias refers to bias that operates outside of conscious control. Participants who engage in implicit bias often claim to be non-biased and are not always aware of their own biased responding (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). Although knowledge of implicit bias may not be available to the individual, implicit biases predict prejudiced behavior towards others (Dovidio, Kawakami, & Gaertner, 2002). Explicit bias is more controllable, easier to monitor and therefore, potentially easier to suppress. Implicit bias is typically seen as more harmful as it is less tractable by the individual engaging in it. For this reason, reversing implicit bias is thought to be a more challenging endeavor (Devine, Forscher, Austin, & Cox, 2012). Our primary goal is to determine how interventions reduce each type of bias and determinants of receptiveness to intervention in young children.

 

Specific Aims

The specific aims of this project are as follows:

1. To determine how the use of language serves as an effective intervention tool to reduce racial bias in children.
2. To determine how responsiveness to intervention interacts with internal cognitive processes.
3. To determine the long-term effects of interventions to reduce racial bias.