Project Details
Projekt
The Role of Language in Early Theory of Mind Development
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Beate Sodian
Subject Area
Developmental and Educational Psychology
General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
Term
from 2015 to 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 258522519
The role of language in Theory of Mind development is investigated in a combined longitudinal and training study. N=150 children have been recruited and tested at 24 and 27 months of age in Phase 1, while testing at 33 and 36 months is ongoing. From this sample, two groups of N=40 children each are being trained in 14 microgenetic training sessions between the ages of 33 and 36 months with mental state language input or complement syntax input. In phase 2, an additional active control group of N=40 children will receive an unspecific (puzzle solving) training. Implicit and explicit Theory of Mind abilities, action understanding, language (mental state language, syntactic skills, narratives), executive functions and IQ will be assessed as outcome measures at the age of 52 months during Phase 2. The study is the first to examine the effects of mental state language and syntactic skills on implicit and explicit Theory of Mind development below the age of 3 years. As the third year of life is a transitional period between an implicit and an explicit Theory of Mind, important insights into the functions of language in early and later Theory of Mind development are expected. In particular, the study is expected to contribute to a better understanding of the cross- sectional and longitudinal relations between implicit and explicit Theory of Mind and language over a wide age range.
DFG Programme
Research Units
