From Understanding to Mindreading: The Role of Scenario Comprehension and Verbal Demand on Theory of Mind

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Facchetti, Teresa; Cocchini, Gianna and Mercure, Evelyne. 2025. From Understanding to Mindreading: The Role of Scenario Comprehension and Verbal Demand on Theory of Mind. Journal of Child Language, ISSN 0305-0009 [Article] (In Press)

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Abstract or Description

While a role of language in the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) is well established, the interplay with a child’s ability to understand structured scenarios remains unclear. A new scale (PTOMs), assessing true and false belief comprehension at different levels of linguistic complexity, was used to explore language effects on ToM while accounting for scenario comprehension. 39 children (aged 4-6 years; 53.8% female) participated in this study. Results showed that 46.8% of 4–6-year-olds can understand false beliefs from picture-based scenarios with limited language output. Both language and scenario comprehension contributed to ToM in first-order false beliefs, whereas only scenario comprehension predicted true beliefs. In contrast, only language predicted second-order false beliefs, highlighting their different roles in ToM development.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500092510010X

Additional Information:

This article has been published in a revised form in Journal of Child Language [http://doi.org/10.1017/S030500092510010X]. This version is published under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND licence. No commercial re-distribution or re-use allowed. Derivative works cannot be distributed. © The Author(s), 2025.

Keywords:

Language, Theory of Mind, Scenario Comprehension, Verbal Demand

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology > Centre for Cognition, Computation and Culture (CCCC)
Psychology

Dates: