Resumen de Difference in cognitive control ability between trilinguals and bilinguals: evidence from Stroop tasks via a mouse-tracking paradigm

Chengwei Lv, Huanyin Liu, Jianlin Chen

• This study investigates the cognitive control differences between trilingual and bilingual individuals in Stroop tasks using a mouse-tracking paradigm, focusing on cognitive control abilities under varying cognitive demands. Specially, Tibetan-Chinese-English trilinguals and Chinese-English bilinguals were required to finish two versions (single-language and dual-language) of Stroop task in MouseTracker software, through which their response dynamics including temporal data and spatial deviation were recorded and analysed. Three main findings emerged: (1) Cognitive control differences do exist between bilingual and trilingual groups. (2) While both groups demonstrated different levels of adaptive control, trilinguals’ adaptive control exhibit heightened capacity to cope with higher demanding conditions. (3) The inconsistency between RT and mouse-tracking metrics indicates that trilingual and bilingual speakers may exhibit distinct cognitive and behavioural patterns during complex decision-making processes. These findings contribute to our understanding of the consequences of multilingualism on cognitive control, and underscore the value of mouse-tracking approach in capturing complex cognitive processes with rich temporal and spatial data.