Narrative discourse and theory of mind development.

Full Abstract

The authors examined experimentally whether exposure to social discourse about concepts related to mental states could promote changes in children's theory of mind understanding. In 2 studies, 3- to 4-year-old children were assigned to either a training or a no training control condition. All children were administered several theory of mind measures at pretest and 2 posttests. Training was not effective in improving performance in Study 1 (n = 37); but in Study 2 (n = 54), modifications of the training procedure led to significant improvements on measures of false belief and deception from pretest to 1st posttest. The findings support the influence of social discourse on children's theory of mind development.

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Author information

Author/s: Guajardo, Nicole R (NR); Watson, Anne C (AC);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Idaho State University, Pocatello 83209-8112, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of genetic psychology (J Genet Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Sep; vol 163 (issue 3) : pp 305-25

Dates: Created 2002/09/16; Completed 2003/02/04; Revised 2007/03/30;

PMID: 12230152, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Female
Humans
Learning
Male
Narration

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