Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Understanding “Double Dipping” in Bilingual Babies’ Language Learning
Imagine a baby growing up in a bilingual home, hearing both English and Spanish every day. One might think that the more the baby hears English, the less attention they would pay to Spanish—especially if English dominates their daily interactions. But in our study, we found something surprising: babies with more English exposure were still paying close attention to Spanish sounds. That is what we call double dipping—using input from one language to help process another.
Here is how it works.
When babies hear the same sound in two languages—like the letter D, which is pronounced a bit differently in English and Spanish—their brains have to figure out which version belongs to which language. English speakers tend to pronounce the D quickly and without voicing beforehand, while Spanish speakers often add a short buzz (called pre-voicing) before saying the D.
Now, if a baby hears English most of the time, you would expect their brain to tune in mostly to English sounds. But when we measured their brain responses, we saw something unexpected. Babies with more English input were still responding to Spanish D sounds as if they were important, even though they did not hear Spanish as often.
Why?
We think the answer lies in how their caregivers speak. In bilingual homes, even when caregivers speak English, their pronunciation might still carry traces of Spanish—what we might call an accent. This accented English can actually help babies recognize and learn features of both languages at once. So instead of choosing just one set of sounds to focus on, these bilingual babies are using the English they hear and the Spanish features hidden within it to build a broader understanding of speech sounds. They are, in essence, “double dipping”—getting twice the learning from the same input.
On the other hand, babies who hear mostly Spanish did not show the same attention to English contrasts. This is likely because Spanish-speaking caregivers produce Spanish sounds very clearly and consistently, without blending in English patterns. That means English is not sneaking into their input the same way Spanish is sneaking into the English of bilingual caregivers.
In short, what babies hear—and how they hear it—matters a lot. The accents, the mix of languages, and the way caregivers pronounce sounds all shape the baby’s developing brain. And in bilingual households, babies may be picking up more than we think, learning from both languages even when one seems to dominate.