The impact of bilingualism on theory of mind in children with and without developmental disorders
A scoping review
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19385646 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Franziska Baumeister (0000-0003-3837-8351, University of Fribourg, corresponding author), Dafni Vaia Bagioka (University of Patras), Laura Rivoletti (University of Zurich), Stephanie Durrleman (0000-0003-1883-5703, University of Fribourg) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 75 |
| Pages | 101186 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Developmental Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0273-2297 • E-ISSN: 1090-2406 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.dr.2025.101186 |
| OpenAlex | W4407092252 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 78 |
Bilingual experiences have so far been oversimplified in research designs. • Need for continuous measures of bilingualism. • Most research on the effects of bilingualism on ToM shows a positive impact. • Bilingualism has been claimed to enhance ToM through different paths. • This review shows that bilingualism may enhance ToM, especially through the amount of L2 exposure. Findings across studies investigating the impact of bilingualism on Theory of Mind (ToM) in children have been mixed, potentially due to methodological differences, including variations in the characterization of bilingualism. At the same time, researchers express the need to take into account the heterogeneity of bilingualism by measuring it in a continuous manner. This scoping review aimed to explore how previous research identifies important bilingualism variables for future studies on its effects on ToM in children with and without developmental disorders. It analysed the studies’ ‘reasoning frameworks’ to assess these insights. Bilingualism is suggested to influence ToM directly or via factors like executive functioning or metalinguistic awareness. Of 37 studies analysed, few fully tested these hypotheses. Those reporting positive outcomes often involved bilinguals with significant language exposure, supporting the idea that bilingualism impacts ToM, particularly when exposure is considered
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Linguistics · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Theory of mind · Child and Animal Learning Development · Language Development and Disorders · Neuroscience · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development
Advances in bilingualism as a dynamic process
On the impact of exposure to different languages on Theory of Mind in neurotypical and autistic children
The Effects of Short-Term Bilingual Exposure on Executive Functions, Theory of Mind, and Receptive Vocabulary in Monolingual Mandarin-Speaking Preschoolers
Life with Two Languages
JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis
The effects of bilingualism on theory of mind development
Individual Differences in Inhibitory Control and Children's Theory of Mind
Redefining bilingualism as a spectrum of experiences that differentially affects brain structure and function
There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing
Properties of Dual Language Exposure That Influence 2-Year-Olds’ Bilingual Proficiency
Language control in bilinguals
Complements to cognition
Meta-Analysis of Theory of Mind and Peer Popularity in the Preschool and Early School Years
Avoiding Ableist Language
Early bilingualism enhances mechanisms of false‐belief reasoning
Bilingualism
Two Languages in Mind
The Exposure Advantage
Are there bilingual advantages on nonlinguistic interference tasks? Implications for the plasticity of executive control processes
Mediation
Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system
Executive Functions
Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?
Individual differences in structural priming in bilingual and monolingual children
Role of bilingual experience in children's context-sensitive selective trust strategies
Minds in action
Both L1 and L2 proficiency impact ToM reasoning in children aged 4 to 6. Painting a more nuanced picture of the relation between bilingualism and ToM
How does bilingualism modify cognitive function? Attention to the mechanism
Maturation of executive functioning skills in early sequential bilingualism
Object Clitic production in monolingual and bilingual children with Specific Language Impairment
Predictors of Theory of Mind performance in bilingual and monolingual children
Perspective-taking and language competence as predictors of language accommodation by adolescents from monolingual and bilingual households
Bilingual education for young children
Theory of Mind and evidentiality in Romani-Bulgarian bilingual children
High proficiency across two languages is related to better mental state reasoning for bilingual children
Children's understanding of homonymy
Direct and Indirect Pathways of Variation in Length of Exposure to the Majority Language, Cognitive and Language Skills in Preschoolers’ Listening Narrative Comprehension
Are the Effects of Variation in Quantity of Daily Bilingual Exposure and Socioeconomic Status on Language and Cognitive Abilities Independent in Preschool Children
Bilingualism, like other types of brain training, does not produce far transfer
Theory of Mind, Executive Functions, and Syntax in Bilingual Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
The effects of bilingualism on executive functions
The bilingual adaptation
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |