ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the counter arguments that have been advanced in responding to the skepticism or criticism expressed by those who have taken a more cautious view of the evidence supporting bilingual advantages in executive functioning. My intention is not only to fairly present and seriously consider these counter points, but also to offer rebuttals when the debate needs to continue. We skeptics have been charged with categorical hypothesizing, demanding that proponents should capture unicorns, expecting unrealistic levels of replicability, wallowing in noisy data and broken normality assumptions, not taking the individual characteristics of bilinguals into account, ignoring positive results, failing to see blatant black swans with our own eyes, and failing to appreciate the beauty and utility of “discovery science”.
