Do bilingual children exhibit a yes bias to yes-no questions? Relationship between children’s yes bias and verbal ability

Abstract

The present study investigated whether bilingual children show a yes bias to yes-no questions. Japanese—French bilingual children, aged 2 to 5 years, were asked yes-no questions pertaining to objects’ properties and functions. At the same time, their verbal ability was tested. The children showed a strong yes bias regardless of their chronological age. The children were then divided into two verbal ability groups (higher and lower), and we found that children in the higher verbal ability group showed weaker yes bias than the children in the lower verbal ability group. Not only chronological age but also verbal age were relevant factors on a yes bias. In addition, like Japanese monolingual children, Japanese—French bilingual children tended to avoid answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Children’s attitude toward adults’ questions might be affected by cultural backgrounds.