Longitudinal Effects of Preschool Theory of Mind on Cognitive and Social Competencies in Elementary School
Final Report Abstract
A comprehensive longitudinal study of Theory of Mind (ToM) development (TOMEC) from infancy to elementary school age was conducted at the Department of Psychology, LMU München, in three phases, (1) 7-36 months, N=96, (2) 48-72 months, N=155, (3) 94 months, N= 121 in the years 2007 to 2015. Psychological reasoning in infancy (goal-encoding, implicit false belief understanding, desire understanding) was related to belief and intention understanding in preschool age independently of verbal IQ and executive functions. In particular, there was a robust link between an anticipatory looking measure of implicit false belief understanding at 18 months, and measures of explicit false belief understanding at 48 to 60 months, as well as advanced ToM at 70 and 94 months. Further, the study provided evidence for the foundational role of declarative joint attention in ToM development. These findings are consistent with a conceptual continuity account of ToM development, as well as with developmental enrichment theories. They provide evidence against non-mentalistic accounts of infant psychological reasoning. Using Rasch scaling and statistical modeling further evidence was found for conceptual coherence of first order and advanced ToM, as well as for a model that includes ToM as a central component of domain-specific intelligences at the age of 4 years. The prediction of developmental outcomes at the age of 8 years found evidence for the view that ToM in preschool age is a unique source of variance in children’s academic and social functioning at school, when IQ, and SES are accounted for. In particular, false belief understanding at the age of 5 years predicted performance in a mathematics test at the end of second grade when domain specific knowledge (counting skills) as well as domain general cognitive functions (working memory and inhibition) were accounted for. No such relation was found for reading skills. Further, ToM was related to scientific reasoning at the age of 8 years. With respect to moral development, the study is the first to indicate a long-term predictive link between mental state understanding in preschool age and moral understanding 4 years later. Further, morally relevant theory of mind reasoning in preschool age was negatively correlated with Machiavellian tendencies in elementary school suggesting that a developmental delay in belief understanding may be a risk factor for the development of negatively biased intention-reading. In sum, the study yielded important insights into developmental processes within the theory of mind domain, as well as into the relation of theory of mind and later academic and social functioning.
Publications
- (2015). Declarative joint attention as a foundation of theory of mind. Developmental Psychology, 51(9), 1190-1200
Sodian, B., & Kristen-Antonow, S.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000039) - (2016). Understanding of goals, beliefs, and desires predicts morally relevant Theory of Mind: A longitudinal investigation. Child Development, 87, 1221-1232
Sodian, B., Licata, M., Kristen, S., Paulus, M., Killen, M., & Woodward, A.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12533) - (2017). The developmental stability of inhibition from 2 to 5 years. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 35(4), 582-595
Kloo, D., & Sodian, B.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12197) - (2018). Maternal cognition talk in the mother-toddler dyad mediates the influence of early emotional availability on preschoolers’ belief reasoning. Social Development, 27(4), 841-857
Kristen-Antonow, S., Licata-Dandel, M., Müller, M. & Sodian, B.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12301) - (2020). How does children’s theory of mind become explicit? A review of longitudinal findings. Child Development Perspectives,14(3), 171-177
Sodian, B., Kristen‐Antonow, S., & Kloo, D.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12381) - (2021). No links between genetic variation and developing theory of mind: A preregistered replication attempt of candidate gene studies. Developmental Science. 24:e13100
Opitz T, Schuwerk T, Paulus M, Kloo, D., Osterhaus, C., Lesch, K.P., & Sodian, B.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13100)
