The more, the better? The influence of multilingualism on cross-situational statistical word learning and mutual exclusivity

While there is evidence that bilingualism enhances statistical learning and substantially reduces the degree to which learners use mutual exclusivity (ME) constraints, little is known about the role of multilingualism. In this study, we tested ME in monolinguals, sequential-bilinguals, trilinguals, and quadrilinguals using a cross-situational statistical learning task. Participants were familiarized with a mixed set of one-word-to-one-object mappings and two-objects-to-one-word mappings in three consecutive phases, each of which was followed by a test. Results revealed that all language groups learned both mapping types by the end. They also learned more one-to-one mappings than two-to-one mappings. Inconsistent with previous research, bilinguals and monolinguals showed a similar learning trajectory of two-to-one mappings. However, both trilinguals and quadrilinguals outperformed monolinguals. Trilinguals did not differ from quadrilinguals in accepting multiple referents for the same label. Findings suggest that multilingual language experience might enhance cross-situational statistical word learning and ME relaxing ability more than bilingualism.