Predicting Factors of Cognitive Flexibility in Chinese–English Bilinguals: Insights from Mouse Tracking Task Switching

TL;DR

This study explores how bilingual experience and language use patterns affect cognitive flexibility in Chinese–English speakers using mouse-tracking data.

Contribution

The study introduces a multi-dimensional approach to understanding bilingual cognitive flexibility through task-switching metrics and contextual language use.

Findings

Bilingual experience significantly influences mix costs more than switch costs in cognitive flexibility.

Balanced language use across life stages and contexts predicts lower mix and switch costs.

Home environment bilingual experiences correlate with enhanced cognitive flexibility.

Abstract

This study investigated factors predicting cognitive flexibility in Chinese–English bilinguals, with a comprehensive focus on demographic and language-related variables. Cognitive flexibility was assessed using reaction times (RTs) and maximum absolute deviation (MAD) in a mouse-tracking nonverbal task-switching paradigm, capturing both mix and switch costs. Regression analyses revealed that bilingual experience explained a larger proportion of variance in mix costs than in switch costs, with stronger effects for MAD than RTs. Higher composite factor scores (CFS) were positively associated with mix costs, whereas balanced language use across life stages, activities, and interlocutors predicted smaller mix costs, suggesting a move to multi-dimensional, experience-based approaches. In contrast, switch costs were largely unrelated to CFS, but balanced language use across situational contexts, which predicted reduced switch costs in MAD, indicating enhanced reactive control. Moreover, bilingual experiences in the home environment appeared to be positively associated with cognitive flexibility. These findings highlight the multidimensional nature of bilingual experience and underscore the value of movement trajectory measures in capturing subtle effects on sustained and transient cognitive control.

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