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Larkin F, Oostenbroek J, Lee Y, Hayward E, Fernandez A, Wang Y, Mitchell A, Li LY, Meins E. A smartphone app effectively facilitates mothers' mind-mindedness: A randomized controlled trial. Child Dev 2024; 95:831-844. [PMID: 37965827 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
The efficacy of a smartphone app intervention (BabyMind©) in facilitating mind-mindedness was investigated in a randomized controlled trial, assigning mothers and their 6-month-olds (N = 152; 72 girls, 146 White) to intervention or active control conditions. Mothers who had received the BabyMind© app intervention scored higher for appropriate (d = .61, 95% CI .28, .94) and lower for non-attuned (d = -.55, 95% CI -.92, -.18) mind-related comments at follow-up (age 12 months), compared with their control group counterparts. Adjusting for missing data did not alter this pattern of findings. Mothers' baseline parental reflective functioning did not moderate these relations. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits of early intervention and exploring the efficacy of the app in more diverse populations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Ying Wang
- Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
| | | | - Lydia Y Li
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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2
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Sehlstedt I, Hansson I, Hjelmquist E. The longitudinal relations between mental state talk and theory of mind. BMC Psychol 2024; 12:191. [PMID: 38582883 PMCID: PMC10998333 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01692-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous investigations of associations between children's Theory of Mind (ToM) and parents' use of words relating to mental states (or mental state talk; MST) have predominantly been performed using cross-sectional designs and false belief tasks as indicators of ToM. METHODS We here report a longitudinal study of 3-5 year-olds (n = 80) investigating ToM development using the ToM scale and three different parental MST types: the absolute frequency of words, the proportions of words, and the vocabulary size. RESULTS Our results revealed significant relations between all parental MST types and later child ToM. Proportions of parental MST were most often related to the children's ToM at 4 years of age. However, the rate at which the children developed ToM from 3 to 5 years of age was associated with the other two parental MST type measures, namely, absolute frequency and vocabulary size. Additionally, our analyses revealed that parents' use of cognitive MST words (e.g., think, or know) were most frequently associated with children's ToM at 4 years of age compared to emotion and desire-related MST words. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that the parental ability to capture the thoughts, beliefs, and knowledge present in different scenarios is associated with children's ability to understand other minds. Moreover, parents' way of talking about the mental states of others is associated with their children's ability to understand and further develop ToM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isac Sehlstedt
- Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 500, Gothenburg, SE, 405 30, Sweden.
| | - Isabelle Hansson
- Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 500, Gothenburg, SE, 405 30, Sweden
| | - Erland Hjelmquist
- Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 500, Gothenburg, SE, 405 30, Sweden
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Gatti D, Stagnitto SM, Basile C, Mazzoni G, Vecchi T, Rinaldi L, Lecce S. Individual differences in theory of mind correlate with the occurrence of false memory: A study with the DRM task. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2023; 76:2107-2121. [PMID: 36245220 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221135178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Although long-term memory and Theory of Mind (ToM) are closely related across the whole lifespan, little is known about the relationship between ToM and semantic memory. Clinical studies have documented the co-occurrence of ToM impairments and semantic memory abnormalities in individuals with autism or semantic dementia. However, to date, no study has directly investigated the existence of a relationship between ToM and semantic memory in the typical population. We addressed this gap on a sample of 103 healthy adults (M age = 22.96 years; age range = 19-35 years). Participants completed a classical false memory task tapping on semantic processes, the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task, and two ToM tasks, the Triangles and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task. They also completed the vocabulary scale from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Results showed that participants' semantic performance in the DRM task was significantly related to that in the Triangles task. Specifically, the higher participants' ToM in the Triangles task, the higher participants' reliance on semantic memory while making false memories in the DRM task. Our findings are consistent with the Fuzzy Trace Theory and the Weak Central Coherence account and suggest that a (partially) common cognitive process responsible for global versus detailed-focus information processing could underlie these two abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Gatti
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | | | - Chiara Basile
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Giuliana Mazzoni
- Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- School of Life Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, UK
| | - Tomaso Vecchi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
| | - Luca Rinaldi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
| | - Serena Lecce
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
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Bigelow AE, Power M, Dadgar H. Maternal mind-mindedness over infants' first three months. Infant Behav Dev 2023; 72:101864. [PMID: 37454575 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Maternal mind-mindedness refers to mothers' ability to reflect upon their infants' mental states and respond appropriately. The present study assessed mind-mindedness longitudinally from the newborn period to the infant age of three months. The study is the first to assess maternal mind-mindedness in the infant's early life prior to three months (one week, one month, two months, three months). To measure maternal mind-mindedness, mothers' speech to their infants is coded for mental state comments about the infants' thoughts, desires, and emotions. Appropriate mind-minded comments are judged to accurately reflect the infants' mental states; non-attuned mind-minded comments are judged to misinterpret the infants' mental states. Mothers' individual stability (rank order stability) and group level continuity (mean level of stability across the infant ages) were assessed. Mothers showed modest temporal stability in both appropriate and non-attuned mind-mindedness over the infants' first three months. The continuity of mind-mindedness showed that appropriate mind-mindedness increased over the infant ages, but non-attuned mind-mindedness showed no change. In infants' early lives, mothers' ability to accurately interpret their infants' mental states is enhanced as the mother-infant relationship develops and infants become more communicative partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann E Bigelow
- Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.
| | - Michelle Power
- Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Hadi Dadgar
- Department of Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
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5
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Pluta A, Krysztofiak M, Zgoda M, Wysocka J, Golec K, Gajos K, Dołyk T, Wolak T, Haman M. Theory of Mind and Parental Mental-State Talk in Children with CIs. JOURNAL OF DEAF STUDIES AND DEAF EDUCATION 2023:enad004. [PMID: 36951492 PMCID: PMC10376925 DOI: 10.1093/deafed/enad004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that parents may support the development of theory of mind (ToM) in their child by talking about mental states (mental state talk; MST). However, MST has not been sufficiently explored in deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs). This study investigated ToM and availability of parental MST in deaf children with CIs (n = 39, Mage = 62.92, SD = 15.23) in comparison with their peers with typical hearing (TH; n = 52, Mage = 52.48, SD = 1.07). MST was measured during shared storybook reading. Parents' narratives were coded for cognitive, emotional, literal, and non-mental references. ToM was measured with a parental questionnaire. Children with CIs had lower ToM scores than their peers with TH, and their parents used more literal references during shared storybook reading. There were no significant differences in the frequencies of cognitive and emotional references between groups. Parental emotional references contributed positively to children's ToM scores when controlling for the child's age and receptive grammar only in the CI group. These results indicated some distinctive features in parents of deaf children with CIs' MST and highlighted the role of MST in the development of ToM abilities in this group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Pluta
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Małgorzata Zgoda
- World Hearing Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Joanna Wysocka
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Karolina Golec
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Tadeusz Dołyk
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Tomasz Wolak
- Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maciej Haman
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
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6
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Kong Q, Mulvihill A, Slaughter V, Fraser H, Cavanagh-Welch B, Elwina FC, Kang J, Ruffman T. Not just quantity but also quality of language: Cross-cultural comparisons of maternal mental state talk in New Zealand, Australia, and China. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0282480. [PMID: 36928220 PMCID: PMC10019639 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Western mothers use more mental state talk with children than do Chinese mothers (e.g., "think", "like", "happy"). The present study aimed to examine whether Western mothers not only produced a greater amount of mental state talk, but also used a wider range of mental state terms (i.e., greater lexical variety) compared to Chinese mothers. We compared maternal mental state talk in 271 mother-child dyads from New Zealand, Australia and China, and coded both quantity (i.e., frequency) and quality (i.e., type, variety, valence) of mothers' mental state talk to their 2.5- to 5-year-olds. Western mothers produced more talk about cognitions and emotions, as well as modulations of assertions, but a similar amount of desire talk, compared to Chinese mothers, with the same patterns found in the variety of talk. Western mothers produced an overall higher amount of mental state talk and a greater variety of mental state terms, but crucially, still produced more MS talk after controlling for the variety. Neither the amount nor the variety of maternal MS talk was correlated with children's theory of mind. These findings shed light on the diverse ways that mothers construe and describe mental states in different cultures, and highlight the importance of examining different aspects of maternal mental state talk and their impact on children's theory of mind in future longitudinal studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuyi Kong
- Department of Psychology, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- * E-mail: (QK); (TR)
| | - Aisling Mulvihill
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | | | - Harry Fraser
- Department of Psychology, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | | | - Jie Kang
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Ted Ruffman
- Department of Psychology, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- * E-mail: (QK); (TR)
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7
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Hou XH, Liu Y, Li Y, Wang LY. Sequence of theory of mind acquisition in ethnic minority children in China: A comparison of Zhuang and Han samples. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03945-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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8
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Laflamme E, Matte-Gagné C, Baribeau-Lambert A. Paternal mind-mindedness and infant-toddler social-emotional problems. Infant Behav Dev 2022; 69:101767. [PMID: 36058127 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that paternal behaviors are influential in child development. However, few studies have focused on paternal mind-mindedness, that is, the tendency of fathers to view their child as having mental agency, which is manifested as a propensity to name the child's mental states while they are interacting with the child. The purpose of this study was to better understand the role of paternal mind-mindedness in the development of social-emotional problems during infancy. 131 families (father-mother-child) were recruited from the community and assessed when children were 6, 12, and 18 months old. Paternal and maternal mind-mindedness was assessed through observation of father-child and mother-child dyads at 6 months. Children's social-emotional problems were measured with a questionnaire completed by both parents at 12 and 18 months. Results indicate that maternal mind-mindedness at 6 months predicts fewer social-emotional problems at 12 months, while fathers' mind-mindedness at 6 months predicts fewer social-emotional problems at 18 months. This study highlights the unique contribution of paternal mind-mindedness to children's early social-emotional development.
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9
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Basile C, Lecce S, van Vugt FT. Synchrony During Online Encounters Affects Social Affiliation and Theory of Mind but Not Empathy. Front Psychol 2022; 13:886639. [PMID: 36092070 PMCID: PMC9450704 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Moving together in time affects human social affiliation and cognition. However, it is unclear whether these effects hold for on-line video meetings and whether they extend to empathy (understanding or sharing others' emotions) and theory of mind (ToM; attribution of mental states to others). 126 young adult participants met through online video in unacquainted pairs. Participants either performed 3 min of synchronous arm movements paced by sounds (n = 40), asynchronous movements (n = 46) or a small talk condition (n = 40). In a subsequent empathy task, participants engaged in a conversation. A video recording of this conversation was played back, and each participant rated, at predetermined time points, how they felt and how they thought their partner felt. From this we calculated empathic accuracy (accuracy of the estimation of the other's emotions) and emotional congruence (emotion sharing). ToM was measured by showing videos of geometrical shapes interacting and asking the participants to describe what happened, measuring the amount of intentionality. We found that participants in the synchrony condition rated feeling greater closeness and similarity to their partners relative to the asynchronous condition. Further, participants in the synchrony group tended to ascribe more intentionality to the abstract shapes than participants in asynchrony condition, suggesting greater ToM. Synchrony and asynchrony groups did not reliably differ in empathic accuracy nor emotional congruence. These results suggest that moving in synchrony has effects on social affiliation measures even in online encounters. These effects extend to ToM tendencies but not empathic accuracy or emotion sharing. These results highlight the potential of synchronous movement in online encounters to affect a subset of social cognition and affiliation measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Basile
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Serena Lecce
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Floris Tijmen van Vugt
- Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research BRAMS, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music – CRBLM, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Haskins Laboratories, Yale University, New Haven, CI, United States
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10
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Murray L, Rayson H, Ferrari PF, Wass SV, Cooper PJ. Dialogic Book-Sharing as a Privileged Intersubjective Space. Front Psychol 2022; 13:786991. [PMID: 35310233 PMCID: PMC8927819 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.786991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Parental reading to young children is well-established as being positively associated with child cognitive development, particularly their language development. Research indicates that a particular, "intersubjective," form of using books with children, "Dialogic Book-sharing" (DBS), is especially beneficial to infants and pre-school aged children, particularly when using picture books. The work on DBS to date has paid little attention to the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of the approach. Here, we address the question of what processes taking place during DBS confer benefits to child development, and why these processes are beneficial. In a novel integration of evidence, ranging from non-human primate communication through iconic gestures and pointing, archaeological data on Pre-hominid and early human art, to experimental and naturalistic studies of infant attention, cognitive processing, and language, we argue that DBS entails core characteristics that make it a privileged intersubjective space for the promotion of child cognitive and language development. This analysis, together with the findings of DBS intervention studies, provides a powerful intellectual basis for the wide-scale promotion of DBS, especially in disadvantaged populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lynne Murray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Holly Rayson
- Institute des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod (CNRS), Bron, France
| | - Pier-Francesco Ferrari
- Institute des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod (CNRS), Bron, France
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienza, Universitá di Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Sam V. Wass
- School of Psychology, University of East London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Peter J. Cooper
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
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11
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Zhang Z, Yu H, Long M, Li H. Worse Theory of Mind in Only-Children Compared to Children With Siblings and Its Intervention. Front Psychol 2021; 12:754168. [PMID: 34899495 PMCID: PMC8655311 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.754168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore theory of mind (ToM) differences in children with different birth orders (only-children, first-born children, and second-born children), and further explore the effect of cognitive verb training for only-children's ToM. Adopting the paradigm of false belief, Study 1 was conducted in which a sample of 120 children aged 3-6, including first-born children, second-born children (siblings aged 1-13 years), and only-children were tested. The results showed that (1) children aged 3-6 had significantly higher scores on first-order false-belief than second-order false-belief. (2) Controlling for age, the only-children scored significantly lower than the first-born children. In Study 2, 28 only-children aged 4-5 (13 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group) who initially failed in false-belief tasks were trained with the cognitive verb animations. Significant post-training improvements were observed for only-children who received training of animations embedded with cognitive verb. Those findings indicated that ToM of only-children was significantly worse than first-born children of two-child families, and linguistic training could facilitate ToM of only-children whose ToM were at a disadvantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuo Zhang
- School of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Haoxue Yu
- School of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Muyun Long
- School of Education, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Hui Li
- School of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
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12
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Gonzales CR, Merculief A, McClelland MM, Ghetti S. The development of uncertainty monitoring during kindergarten: Change and longitudinal relations with executive function and vocabulary in children from low-income backgrounds. Child Dev 2021; 93:524-539. [PMID: 34889459 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Children's ability to monitor subjective feelings of uncertainty (i.e., engage in uncertainty monitoring) is a central metacognitive skill. In the current study, we examined the development of uncertainty monitoring as well as its relations with vocabulary and executive function development in children (N = 137, 52% female) from predominately White and Latinx/Hispanic backgrounds when they were 4-6 years old and enrolled in a Head Start preschool and kindergarten between 2018 and 2019. We found that children's uncertainty monitoring improved during the kindergarten year. Children's executive function and vocabulary in preschool and vocabulary growth from preschool to kindergarten predicted uncertainty monitoring at the end of kindergarten, which sheds new light on potential mechanisms supporting children's metacognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alexis Merculief
- Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Megan M McClelland
- Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Simona Ghetti
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA
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13
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Lecce S, Ronchi L, Devine RT. Mind what teacher says: Teachers’ propensity for mental‐state language and children's theory of mind in middle childhood. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Serena Lecce
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Science University of Pavia Pavia Italy
| | - Luca Ronchi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Science University of Pavia Pavia Italy
| | - Rory T. Devine
- School of Psychology University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
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14
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Aldrich NJ, Chen J, Alfieri L. Evaluating associations between parental mind-mindedness and children’s developmental capacities through meta-analysis. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2021.100946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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15
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Theory of mind, mental state talk, and discourse comprehension: Theory of mind process is more important for narrative comprehension than for informational text comprehension. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 209:105181. [PMID: 34049060 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Revised: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the relations among theory of mind (ToM), mental state talk, and discourse comprehension. Specifically, we examined the frequency of mental state talk in children's oral recall of narrative texts and informational texts as well as relations among ToM, mental state talk (inclusion of mental state words in the recall of narrative and informational texts), and narrative and informational text comprehension. Results from children in Grade 4 (N = 132; Mage = 10.39 years) revealed that a greater number of mental state talk instances appeared in children's recall of narrative texts than in their recall of informational texts, but the mean number also differed across texts within a genre. ToM skill predicted the extent of mental state talk in narrative texts and informational texts, and the relation was stronger for narrative texts than for informational texts, after accounting for vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, working memory, and attentional control. Mental state talk in narrative texts was extremely strongly related to narrative comprehension, whereas mental state talk in informational texts was weakly related to informational text comprehension. Results suggest that ToM skill relates to mental state talk in the recall of texts, and both ToM and mental state talk play greater roles in comprehension of narrative texts than in comprehension of informational texts.
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16
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Wu J, Liu M, Lin W. Impact of Teacher's Mental State Talk on Young Children's Theory of Mind: A Quasi-Experiment Study. Front Psychol 2021; 12:668883. [PMID: 33841292 PMCID: PMC8033161 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.668883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between teachers' mental state talk and young children's theory of mind with a quasi-experiment. In total, 56 young children were assigned to the experiment group (meanage = 41 months, SD = 2.47, 46% girls) and the control group (meanage = 40.68 months, SD = 2.23, 43% girls). The experiment group was engaged in a 12-week intervention program with mental state talk in storytelling, casual conversations, and role-playing games, whereas the control group received no interventions. All the children were tested with three theory of mind (ToM) tasks before and after the intervention. The results indicated that the experimental group had a significant improvement in the ToM scores, whereas the control group showed no significant change. The educational implications of these findings are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfen Wu
- School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Minmin Liu
- Hangzhou Qiantang Jiangchao Kindergarten, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wenqi Lin
- School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
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17
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Larkin F, Schacht R, Oostenbroek J, Hayward E, Fernyhough C, Muñoz Centifanti LC, Meins E. Mind-mindedness versus mentalistic interpretations of behavior: Is mind-mindedness a relational construct? Infant Ment Health J 2020; 42:176-187. [PMID: 33326150 DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Mind-mindedness is a measure of the tendency to represent significant others in internal state terms and is central to supportive parent-infant relationships. The two studies reported here explored whether mind-mindedness generalizes to representations of unknown individuals, using a novel task that assessed individual differences in adults' tendency to interpret others' behavior with reference to their internal states: the Unknown Mother-Infant Interaction Task (UMIIT). We compared UMIIT performance with measures of mind-mindedness from (a) adults' descriptions of close friends and partners (Study 1, N = 96) and (b) mothers' appropriate versus nonattuned comments on their infants' internal states (Study 2, N = 56). In line with the proposal that mind-mindedness is a relational construct, UMIIT performance was unrelated to mind-mindedness in both studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fionnuala Larkin
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.,Department of Psychology, York St John University, Lord Mayor's Walk, York, YO31 7EX, UK
| | - Robin Schacht
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | | | - Emily Hayward
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK
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18
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Hou XH, Gong ZQ, Wang LJ, Zhou Y, Su Y. A Reciprocal and Dynamic Development Model for the Effects of Siblings on Children's Theory of Mind. Front Psychol 2020; 11:554023. [PMID: 33192805 PMCID: PMC7649281 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.554023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
In the field of social influences on Theory of Mind (ToM), more research has focused on the role of parents, but less research has examined the impact of siblings on children’s social understanding. We review existing research related to what factors might affect sibling–ToM association and how these potential factors affect ToM. Based on the literature review, we propose an integrative model that unites three categories of factors (i.e., sibling structural variables, sibling individual variables, parental intervening variables) that might have effects on the sibling–ToM association and highlights mental-state talks during sibling interactions at the intersection of sibling-related variables and ToM. Furthermore, we propose some issues arising from this review that need to be clarified in future studies. Specifically, we hope to clarify the specific effects of older and younger siblings on children’s understanding of human minds, the similarities and differences of sibling–ToM association under different cultural backgrounds, and the impact of family social disadvantage (e.g., lower SES) on the sibling–ToM association. All these works would benefit from the verification, revision, and expansion of our reciprocal influence model for the sibling–ToM association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Hui Hou
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Education, School of Education Science, Nanning Normal University, Nanning, China
| | - Zhu-Qing Gong
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Liu-Ji Wang
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Education, School of Education Science, Nanning Normal University, Nanning, China
| | - Yuan Zhou
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Education, School of Education Science, Nanning Normal University, Nanning, China.,Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yanjie Su
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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Ding XP, Teo SLY, Tay C. The link between parental mental state talk and children's lying: An indirect effect via false belief understanding. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 201:104990. [PMID: 32977115 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Revised: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Past research shows that parental mental state talk (MST) is closely associated with children's theory-of-mind (ToM) understanding. The current study extends previous work by investigating whether parental MST is also associated with children's ToM in action (i.e., lying). A total of 90 Singaporean 3- to 5-year-olds participated in this study with their parents. Parental MST was measured using a storytelling task with a wordless picture book. Mediation analysis revealed an indirect effect: Children's ToM understanding served as a mediator in the path between parental MST and children's lying, whereas there was no significant direct effect of parental MST on children's lying. This study is the first to focus on the relation between parental MST and ToM in an applied setting. Our findings suggest that parental MST can help children to develop sociocognitive skills, which in turn can help children to gain the insight that lying may be used as a strategy for personal gain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Pan Ding
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570, Singapore.
| | - Sherann Ler Ying Teo
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570, Singapore
| | - Cleo Tay
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570, Singapore.
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21
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Lecce S, Ceccato I, Cavallini E. Theory of mind, mental state talk and social relationships in aging: The case of friendship. Aging Ment Health 2019; 23:1105-1112. [PMID: 30482047 DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2018.1479832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Objectives: Previous research has shown a decline in Theory of mind (ToM) associated with normal aging. However, very few studies have investigated older people's ToM using an ecological approach. The present study was designed to fill this gap and examine older people's frequency of mental state talk (MST) in describing their best friend, together with their performance on a traditional ToM task. In addition, the study examined the association between these two ToM indices and relationships with friends and family members. Method: Seventy-two healthy older adults (age range 60-79) participated in the study. We measured ToM ability with a classic measure, the Faux Pas task, and selected the Describe-a-friend task to measure MST frequency; social relationships were investigated with the Lubben Social Network Scale. Correlation and regression analyses were performed. Results: No significant association between MST and scores on the Faux Pas task emerged. In addition, MST (but not Faux Pas scores) significantly predicted friendships (but not family relationships) over and above general cognitive functioning. Conclusion: These findings show the crucial distinction between possessing an ability and using it in daily life and suggest the need to move toward more ecological measures of older adults' abilities. In addition, the present results indicate that the spontaneous use of ToM ability, not the ability per se, impacts on older adults' social relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serena Lecce
- a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy
| | - Irene Ceccato
- a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy
| | - Elena Cavallini
- a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy
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22
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Taumoepeau M, Sadeghi S, Nobilo A. Cross-cultural differences in children’s theory of mind in Iran and New Zealand: The role of caregiver mental state talk. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2019.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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23
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Shamblaw AL, Benson JE, Harkness KL, Sabbagh MA. Maternal depression and children’s false belief understanding. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kate L. Harkness
- Department of Psychology Queen’s University Kingston Ontario Canada
| | - Mark A. Sabbagh
- Department of Psychology Queen’s University Kingston Ontario Canada
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24
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Sundqvist A, Holmer E, Koch FS, Heimann M. Developing theory of mind abilities in Swedish pre-schoolers. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/icd.2090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Annette Sundqvist
- Infant and Child Lab, Behavioural Sciences and Learning; Linköping University; Linköping Sweden
| | - Emil Holmer
- Infant and Child Lab, Behavioural Sciences and Learning; Linköping University; Linköping Sweden
| | - Felix-Sebastian Koch
- Infant and Child Lab, Behavioural Sciences and Learning; Linköping University; Linköping Sweden
| | - Mikael Heimann
- Infant and Child Lab, Behavioural Sciences and Learning; Linköping University; Linköping Sweden
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