Relationship between executive functions and divergent thinking in bilingual and monolingual preschool children
This work is licensed under a Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Abstract
Background. The article analyzes the problem of cognitive regulation in children with different language status during the pre-school period, which allows for a more specific understanding of the trajectories of cognitive development in a multilingual and multicultural educational environment.
Objective. To identify differences in executive functions and divergent thinking between balanced bilingual preschoolers (Russian/Tatar) and monolinguals (Russian), and to establish the patterns of correlations between these indicators within each group.
Sample. The empirical study involved 120 preschool children aged 5 to 7 years (M = 6.15; Med = 6.1) of which 60 were balanced bilinguals (Russian and Tatar) and 60 were monolinguals (Russian).
Methods. The research employed observation, an associative experiment, and psychodiagnostic methods aimed at studying executive functions and divergent thinking in preschool children. Data processing was carried out using descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney U-test, and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.
Results. Significant differences were found in all indicators of executive functions and divergent thinking, with higher scores in bilingual children. The identified relationships between executive functions and thinking processes made it possible to establish different trajectories in the development of the self-regulation system of creative thinking in preschoolers with different language status: convergence of executive functions and thinking processes, forming an integral system of cognitive regulation in bilinguals; local coherence of executive functions and thinking processes in monolinguals.
Conclusions. The results can be used in the development of psychological and educational technologies, as well as in the design of individual educational pathways that promote the development of the regulatory-cognitive sphere in primary school children with different language status.
References
Anderson, J.A. E., Mak, L., Keyvani Chahi, A., Bialystok, E. (2018). The language and social background questionnaire: Assessing degree of bilingualism in a diverse population. Behavior Research Methods, 50(1), 250–263. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0867-9
Anjomshoae, F., Wiebe, S. A., Nicoladis, E. (2024) Executive function’s structure in monolingual and bilingual adults using confirmatory factor analysis. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 28(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672892400021X
Bialystok, E. (2007) Cognitive effects of bilingualism: How linguistic experience leads to cognitive change. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(3), 210-223. https://doi.org/10.2167/beb441.0
Bialystok, E. (2017). The bilingual adaptation: how minds accommodate experience. Psychological Bulletin, 143, 233–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000099
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I. (2022). How does bilingualism modify cognitive function? Attention to the mechanism. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 1246–1269. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-022-02057-5
Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I.M., Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 240–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001
Brooks, B.L., Sherman, E.M.S., Strauss, E. (2010). NEPSY-II: A Developmental neuropsychological assessment, Second Edition. Child Neuropsychology, 16(1), 80–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09297040903146966
Chernokova, T.E. (2025). Development of divergent thinking in children aged 5–6 years through klecksography. Sovremennoe Doshkol’noe Obrazovanie = Preschool Education Today, 19(5), 54–67. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24412/2782-4519-2025-19-5-54-67
Ghonsooly, B., Showqi, S. (2012). The effects of foreign language learning on creativity. English Language Teaching, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n4p161
Grundy, J.G. (2020). The effects of bilingualism on executive functions: an updated quantitative analysis. Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science, 4(2), 177–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41809-020-00062-5
Guðmundsdóttir, M.D., Lesk, V.E. (2019). Does the bilingual advantage extend to trilingualism? A comparison of monolingual, bilingual and trilingual university students on executive functioning tasks. International Journal of Multilingualism, 16(4), 549–562. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2019.1617717.
Guilford, J.P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gunnerud, H.L., Ten Braak, D., Reikerås, E.K.L., Donolato, E., Melby-Lervåg, M. (2020). Is bilingualism related to a cognitive advantage in children? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1059–1083. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000301
Kerrigan, L., Thomas, M.S., Bright, P., Filippi, R. (2017). Evidence of an advantage in visuo-spatial memory for bilingual compared to monolingual speakers. Bilingualism. Language and Cognition, 20(3), 602–612. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000917
Kharkhurin, A.V. (2012). Multilingualism and Creativity. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Kharkhurin, A.V. (2018). Bilingualism and cteativity. An Introduction to Bilingualism: Principles and Processes. A. Jeanette, R.R.H. Altarriba (eds.), 159–189.
Kharkhurin, A.V., aWei, L. (2015). The role of code-switching in bilingual creativity. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18, 153–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2014.884211
Khotinets, V.Y. Shishova, E.O. (2023). Cultural and educational environment in the development of younger schoolchildrenʼs creative potential. Frontiers in Psychology, 14:1178535. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1178535
Khotinets, V.Yu., Shishova, E.O., Novgorodova, Yu.O., Medvedeva, D.S., Kozhevnikova, O.V. (2024). The relationship between the functions of activity regulation and the management of cognitive processes in bilingual and monolingual primary school students at the early stages of learning English. Obrazovanie i Samorazvitie = Education and Self-Development, 19(3), 181–197. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.19.3.13
Klimovich-Gray, A., Kaufman, S.B., Crutch, S.J., Housden, C.R. (2018). Is there a bilingual advantage in divergent thinking? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(1), 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000555
Korkman, M., Kirk, U., Kemp, S. (1998). NEPSY developmental neuropsychological assessment. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Korkman, M., Kirk, U., Kemp, S. (2007). NEPSY-II: Clinical and interpretive manual. San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment, PsychCorp.
Kudryavtsev, V.T., Sinelnikov, V.B. (1995). The preschool child: A new approach to diagnostics of creative abilities. Doshkol’noe Vospitanie = Preschool Education, (9), 52–58. (In Russ.).
Kyuchukov, Kh.S., Ushakova, O.S. (2021). Pragmatic aspects of Татаr-Russian bilingualism among preschool children. Sovremennoe Doshkol’noe Obrazovanie = Preschool Education Today, (5), 48–55. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24412/1997-9657-2021-5107-48-55
Liu, D., Qing, W., Chen, J., Sun, Y., Shi, B. (2022). Relationship between media multitasking behavior and divergent thinking: The moderating effect of executive function. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 46(4):101189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101189
Lowe, C.J., Cho, I., Goldsmith, S.F., Morton, J.B. (2021). The Bilingual advantage in children’s executive functioning is not related to language status: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Science, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621993108
Nikolaeva, E.I., Vergunov, E.G. (2017). What are «executive functions» and their development during ontogenesis. Teoreticheskaya i Eksperimental’naya Psikhologiya = Theoretical and Experimental Psychology, 10(2), 62–81. (In Russ.).
Onysko, A. (2016). Bilingualism and figurative thought: Conceptual metaphor and metonymy in bilingual processing. Bilingual Figurative Language Processing. R. Heredia, A. Cieślicka (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P. 109–143.
Paap, K.R., Johnson, H.A., Sawi, O. (2015). Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to very specific and undetermined circumstances. Cortex, 69, 265–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.04.014.
Popova, T.V. (2006). Associative experiment in psychology: A Tutorial. Moscow: Flinta Publ. (In Russ.).
Prior, A., Gollan, T.H. (2011). Good language-switchers are good task-switchers: Evidence from Spanish-English and Mandarin-English bilinguals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17(4), 682–691. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617711000580
Protassova, E.Yu. (2021). Dynamics of stories of bilingual children: Problems and practice. Sovremennoe Doshkol’noe Obrazovanie = Preschool Education Today, (5), 28–37. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24412/1997-9657-2021-5107-28-37
Quílez-Robres, A., Moyano, N., Cortés-Pascual, A. (2021). Task monitoring and working memory as executive components predictive of general and specific academic achievements in 6-9-year-old children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(13), Article 6681. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136681
Safonova, O.A. (2025). Scientific creativity of L.A. Paramonova and children’s construction. Sovremennoe Doshkol’noe Obrazovanie = Preschool Education Today, 19(1), 28–39. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24412/2782-4519-2025-1127-28-39
Sampedro, A., Peña, J. (2019). Executive functions mediate the association between bilingualism and creativity in preadolescents. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 34(2):100605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2019.100605
Soleimani, M., Yousefi, R., Ghazanfarianpour, S. (2020). The role of intelligence profiles and executive functions (selectiveattention and switching) in predicting creativity components. Journal of Modern Rehabilitation, 14(3):177–190. http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/JMR.14.3.6
Tao, Y., Zhu, Z., Liu, Y. (2023). The influence of bilingual experience on executive function under emotional interference: Evidence from the N1 component. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1107994
Tunik, E. E. (2003). Modified Williams creative tests. St. Petersburg: Rech Publ. (In Russ.).
Uruntaeva, G.A., Afon’kina, Yu.A. (1995). Workshop on child psychology: A Handbook for students of pedagogical institutes, students of pedagogical colleges and schools, and kindergarten teachers. Moscow: Prosveshchenie Publ; Vlados Publ. (In Russ.).
Veraksa, N.E., Kudryavtsev, V.T. (2014). Dialectics of developing cognition: Thinking and imagination of a preschool child. Vestnik RGGU. Seriya «Psikhologiya. Pedagogika. Obrazovanie» = Bulletin of the Russian State University for the Humanities. Series «Psychology. Pedagogy. Education», (20), 37–62. (In Russ.).
Ware, A.T., Kirkovski, M., Lum, J.A. (2020). Meta-analysis reveals a bilingual advantage that is dependent on task and age. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01458
Yurtsever, A., Anderson, J.A.E., Grundy, J.G. (2023). Bilingual children outperform monolingual children on executive function tasks far more often than chance: An updated quantitative analysis. Developmental Review, 69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2023.101084
Zelazo, P.D. (2006). The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS): a method of assessing executive function in children. Nature Protocols, 1(1), 297–301. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2006.46