Can you read my mind? Age as a moderator in the relationship between theory of mind and relational aggression

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 552-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Gomez-Garibello ◽  
Victoria Talwar
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Relational Aggression ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Complete Theory ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Older Children ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Attribution Of Intentions

The present study examined whether age moderates the relationship between cognitive factors (theory of mind and attribution of intentions) and relational aggression. Participants ( N = 426; 216 boys) between 6 and 9 years of age were asked to complete theory of mind tasks and answer an attribution of intentions questionnaire. Teachers evaluated their students’ social behaviors including relational aggressive acts. Results suggest that theory of mind did affect relational aggression, when this association was moderated by chronological age. Specifically, it was found that the association between theory of mind and relational aggression was only significant and positive for younger participants; for older children the direction of this association was inverse. Taken together, findings from this study partially support the assertion that sophisticated cognitive skills are a prerequisite for indirect ways of aggression.

scholarly journals Children's understanding of homonymy: metalinguistic awareness and false belief

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTIN J. DOHERTY
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Metalinguistic Awareness ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Mental Age ◽  
And Control ◽  
Selection Of

The aim of this study was to explain why children have difficulty with homonymy. Two experiments were conducted with forty-eight children (Experiment 1) and twenty-four children (Experiment 2). Three- and four-year-old children had to either select or judge another person's selection of a different object with the same name, avoiding identical objects and misnomers. Older children were successful, but despite possessing the necessary vocabulary, younger children failed these tasks. Understanding of homonymy was strongly and significantly associated to understanding of synonymy, and more importantly, understanding of false belief, even when verbal mental age, chronological age, and control measures were partialled out. This indicates that children's ability to understand homonymy results from their ability to make a distinction characteristic of representation, a distinction fundamental to both metalinguistic awareness and theory of mind.

scholarly journals Irony, deception and theory of mind in people with intellectual disabilities and dual diagnoses

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 620-630
Author(s):  
Mirjana Djordjevic ◽  
Nenad Glumbic ◽  
Branislav Brojcin
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Intellectual Functioning ◽  
Order Theory ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
First Order Theory ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
Dual Diagnoses ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Background/Aim. The ability to comprehend and produce irony and deception is rarely explored in people with intellectual disability (ID) or dual diagnoses (DD). The ability to understand irony and deception appears to be related to many cognitive skills, but some authors point out that the theory of mind is one of the most important factors for this ability. This research was conducted to determine the linguistic aspects of production and comprehension of irony and deception in adults with ID and DD, as well as the relationship of these abilities with theory of mind. Methods. The sample consisted of 120 people with ID aged between 20 and 56. Half of the sample comprised people with DD. Four subscales from the Assessment Battery for Communication were used to assess the participants? abilities to produce and comprehend irony and deception. False-belief tasks from ?appearance-reality? category were used in theory of mind assessment. The level of intellectual functioning was measured by the Raven?s progressive matrices, while the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was used to assess speech comprehension ability. Results. The results show that participants with DD and ID comprehend and produce false statements better than ironic ones. Participants with ID were more successful in production than in comprehension tasks of both false and ironic statements, while the same was true for participants with DD only for ironic statements. Participants with ID were significantly more successful than participants with DD in irony comprehension tasks. In participants with ID, first-order theory of mind significantly correlated only with the ability to produce irony, and second-order theory of mind significantly correlated with producing irony and deception. There were no significant correlations between theory of mind and producing and comprehending irony and deception in participants with DD. Conclusion. Although differences in some aspects of assessed abilities were found between the two groups of participants, the similarities in the profile of these abilities were dominant. Results of variability can be explained by differences in speech comprehension ability more than by differences in nonverbal intellectual functioning or theory of mind acquisition. Future studies should assess the influence of other cognitive factors.

Irony Comprehension in Children With Cochlear Implants: The Role of Language Competence, Theory of Mind, and Prosody Recognition

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Francesca Panzeri ◽  
Sara Cavicchiolo ◽  
Beatrice Giustolisi ◽  
Federica Di Berardino ◽  
Paola Francesca Ajmone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Advanced Theory Of Mind ◽  
Italian Children ◽  
Age Range

Purpose Aims of this research were (a) to investigate higher order linguistic and cognitive skills of Italian children with cochlear implants (CIs); (b) to correlate them with the comprehension of irony, which has never been systematically studied in this population; and (c) to identify the factors that facilitate the development of this competence. Method We tested 28 Italian children with CI (mean chronological age = 101 [ SD = 25.60] months, age range: 60–144 months), and two control groups of normal-hearing (NH) peers matched for chronological age and for hearing age, on a series of tests assessing their cognitive abilities (nonverbal intelligence and theory of mind), linguistic skills (morphosyntax and prosody recognition), and irony comprehension. Results Despite having grammatical abilities in line with the group of NH children matched for hearing age, children with CI lag behind both groups of NH peers on the recognition of emotions through prosody and on the comprehension of ironic stories, even if these two abilities were not related. Conclusions This is the first study that targeted irony comprehension in children with CI, and we found that this competence, which is crucial for maintaining good social relationships with peers, is impaired in this population. In line with other studies, we found a correlation between this ability and advanced theory of mind skills, but at the same time, a deeper investigation is needed, to account for the high variability of performance in children with CI.

Cognitive Factors Mediate the Relation Between Age and Flight Path Maintenance in General Aviation

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Van Benthem ◽  
Chris M. Herdman
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Flight Path ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Pilot Performance ◽  
Pilot Error ◽  
Age Related ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Identifying pilot attributes associated with risk is important, especially in general aviation where pilot error is implicated in most accidents. This research examined the relationship of pilot age, expertise, and cognitive functioning to deviations from an ideal circuit trajectory. In all, 54 pilots, of varying age, flew a Cessna 172 simulator. Cognitive measures were obtained using the CogScreen-AE ( Kay, 1995 ). Older age and lower levels of expertise and cognitive functioning were associated with significantly greater flight path deviations. The relationship between age and performance was fully mediated by a cluster of cognitive factors: speed and working memory, visual attention, and cognitive flexibility. These findings add to the literature showing that age-related changes in cognition may impact pilot performance.

The Mediating Effect of Language on the Development of Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicity J Bigelow ◽  
Gillian M Clark ◽  
Jarrad Lum ◽  
Peter Gregory Enticott
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Functioning ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Language Assessments ◽  
Empathic Ability ◽  
The Relationship

Theory of mind (ToM) development is critical to effective social functioning and appears to depend on complementary language abilities. The current study explored the mediating influence of language on the development of cognitive and affective ToM. 151 children aged between 5-12 years completed ToM (cognitive and affective) and language assessments, and parents provided ratings of their child’s empathic ability. Results showed that language mediated the relationship between age and both cognitive and affective ToM, but not parent-reported cognitive empathy. Examination of younger and older subgroups revealed that language mediated cognitive and affective ToM differently across developmental periods. Findings highlight the dynamic role that language plays in the development of both cognitive and affective ToM throughout early and middle childhood.

scholarly journals Bidirectional Relationship Between Subjective Age and Frailty: Findings From the NHATS

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 271-271
Author(s):  
Yuxiao Li ◽  
Minhui Liu ◽  
Christina Miyawaki ◽  
Xiaocao Sun ◽  
Tianxue Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Clinical Syndrome ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Subjective Age ◽  
Bidirectional Relationship ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Hispanic White

Abstract Frailty is a clinical syndrome that becomes increasingly common as people age. Subjective age refers to how young or old individuals experience themselves to be. It is associated with many risk factors of frailty, such as increased depression, worse cognitive function, and poorer psychological wellbeing. In this study, we examined the relationship between subjective age and frailty using the 2011-2015 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Participants were community-dwelling older adults without frailty in the initial wave (N=1,165). Subjective age was measured by asking participants, “What age do you feel most of the time?” Based on the Fried five phenotypic criteria: exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, low physical activity, slow gait, and weak grip strength, frailty was categorized into robust=0, pre-frail=1 or 2; frail=3 or more criteria met. Participants were, on average, 74.1±6.5 years old, female (52%), and non-Hispanic White (81%). Eighty-five percent of the participants felt younger, and 3% felt older than their chronological age, but 41% of them were pre-frail/frail. Generalized estimating equations revealed that an “older” subjective age predicted a higher likelihood of pre-frailty and frailty (OR, 95%CI= 1.01, 1.01-1.02). In contrast, frailty predicted an “older” subjective age (OR, 95%CI= 2.97, 1.65-5.35) adjusting for demographics and health conditions. These findings suggest a bidirectional relationship between subjective age and frailty. Older people who feel younger than their chronological age are at reduced risk of becoming pre-frail/frail. Intervention programs to delay frailty progression should include strategies that may help older adults perceive a younger subjective age.

scholarly journals Self-serving social strategies: A systematic review of social cognition in narcissism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare M. Eddy
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
Concurrent Administration ◽  
Narcissistic Personality

AbstractNarcissistic Personality Disorder is characterised by inflated self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. The interpersonal difficulties associated with narcissistic personality may be becoming more widespread given its increasing prevalence within the general population. This systematic review investigated the relationship between narcissistic personality traits and social cognition (i.e. theory of mind; emotion recognition; empathy; emotional intelligence) in clinical and non-clinical samples. Cognitive empathy (i.e. perspective taking) appears unlikely to be impaired, while affective empathy (relating to another’s emotion state) may be reduced in association with narcissism. Those with grandiose narcissism rate their empathic skills more highly than those with vulnerable narcissism, but concurrent administration of objective measures is rare, limiting insight into the validity of self-ratings. Rather than deficits in aspects of social cognition, the overall pattern could reflect motivation, or advantageous use of social cognitive skills to serve the self. Indeed, interpersonal strategies associated with narcissism (e.g. deception; manipulation) suggest the application of understanding another’s beliefs or desires in the context of low empathy. Further research should seek to explore performance on a wider range of emotion recognition and theory of mind tasks, and whether characteristics such as excessive jealousy and paranoia could reflect hyper-mentalizing.

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