Preschoolers’ Implicit and Explicit False-Belief Understanding: Relations With Complex Syntactical Mastery

In a longitudinal study ( N = 54), we investigated the developmental relation between children’s implicit and explicit theory of mind and executive functions. We found that implicit false belief understanding at 18 months was correlated with explicit false belief understanding at 4 to 5 years of age, with the latter being closely related to second-order false belief understanding at 5 years of age. Also, replicating a number of studies, explicit first- and second-order false belief understanding, in contrast to implicit false belief understanding, were related to executive functioning. This indicates that executive functions play a role in standard explicit false belief tasks, but not in implicit false belief understanding. We argue that spontaneous, implicit false belief understanding does not require conscious control, whereas explicit false belief understanding is based on conscious, reflective processing. In sum, we suggest a developmental enrichment account of theory of mind development, with belief processing becoming increasingly reflective and controlled with advancing age.

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On the Relationship between Theory of Mind and Syntax in Clinical and Non-Clinical Populations: State of the Art and Implications for Research

The Open Psychology Journal ◽

10.2174/1874350101811010095 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 95-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Elena Fontana ◽

Mauro Adenzato ◽

Jacopo S. Penso ◽

Ivan Enrici ◽

Rita B. Ardito

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Mental States ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

False Belief ◽

Neuropsychological Disorders ◽

False Belief Understanding ◽

Implicit And Explicit ◽

The Relationship

Background:Over the years, different explanations have been given on the relationship between syntax and Theory of Mind,i.e., the ability to attribute mental states to others and predict, describe, and explain behavior based on such mental states. In the present study, we focus on the relationship between false-belief understanding as a crucial aspect of Theory of Mind, and on the ability to master the syntax of complementation,i.e., the ability to produce and comprehend sentences in a recursive way.Objective:Our purpose is to test two main hypotheses on the relationship between false-belief understanding and the ability to master the syntax of complementation: the dependence and the independence of false-belief understanding on syntactic complementation.Method:We analyze studies on children with typical development, deaf children with deaf signing or hearing parents, children with specific language impairment, children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, longitudinal and training studies, and studies on adults with neuropsychological disorders.Conclusion:Strengths and weaknesses of the two hypotheses are discussed and limitations of the current state of knowledge are presented. A lifespan approach taking into account both the emergence and maintenance of false-belief understanding and using both implicit and explicit false-belief tasks is proposed to face the issue discussed.

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Chinese preschoolers’ implicit and explicit false-belief understanding

British Journal of Developmental Psychology ◽

10.1111/j.2044-835x.2011.02052.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 123-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Bo Wang ◽

Jason Low ◽

Zhang Jing ◽

Qu Qinghua

Keyword(s):

False Belief ◽

False Belief Understanding ◽

Implicit And Explicit

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Pragmatic Language Performance of Children Adopted Internationally

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2018_ajslp-18-0075 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 501-514

Author(s):

Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich ◽

Hisako Matsuo

Keyword(s):

Social Communication ◽

False Belief ◽

Pragmatic Language ◽

Eastern European ◽

Language Performance ◽

Emotion Identification ◽

False Belief Understanding ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Pragmatic Communication ◽

Eastern European Countries

Purpose Pragmatic language is important for social communication across all settings. Children adopted internationally (CAI) may be at risk of poorer pragmatic language because of adverse early care, delayed adopted language development, and less ability to inhibit. The purpose of this study was to compare pragmatic language performance of CAI from Asian and Eastern European countries with a nonadopted group of children who were of the same age and from similar socioeconomic backgrounds as well as explore the relationship among emotion identification, false belief understanding, and inhibition variables with pragmatic language performance. Method Using a quasi-experimental design, 35 four-year-old CAI (20 Asian, 15 Eastern European) and 33 children who were not adopted were included in this study. The children's pragmatic language, general language, and social communication (emotion identification of facial expressions, false belief understanding, inhibition) were measured. Comparisons by region of origin and adoption experience were completed. We conducted split-half correlation analyses and entered significant correlation variables into simple and backward regression models. Results Pragmatic language performance differed by adoption experience. The adopted and nonadopted groups demonstrated different correlation patterns. Language performance explained most of the pragmatic language variance. Discussion Because CAI perform less well than their nonadopted peers on pragmatic communication measures and different variables are related to their pragmatic performance, speech-language pathologists may need to adapt assessment and intervention practices for this population.

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