Early mindreading scale: From joint attention to false-belief understanding

Abstract

The current research aims at constructing a developmentally sensitive mindreading scale (i.e., a battery of tasks measuring different aspects of mindreading ability in children from 1 to 3.5 years of age). Over 300 Polish children were tested at six-month intervals with 48 different tasks designed to measure mindreading ability (for a total of six measurement occasions, T1-T6; N T1 = 357; M ageT1 = 52,30 weeks; SD = 1,73; 201 (56%) boys, 156 (44%) girls). Using latent trait modelling, a latent mindreading factor was established. Support was found for satisfactory reliability of the scale that ultimately consisted of 31 tasks. The tasks were age-matched, as the information curves for latent factors for each of the six age ranges and the reliability of the composite constructs were mostly acceptable. The validity was also confirmed using correlational analyses, and the continuous development of mindreading was observed over the tested age ranges: from joint attention, through using gestures in communication and visual perspective taking, to false-belief understanding. The proposed scale is suitable for use in the investigation of the general pattern of the development of, and individual differences in, mindreading ability.

Is there continuity from implicit recognition of intentional action in infants to explicit mindreading in preschoolers? Systematic review of longitudinal evidence and theoretical implications (¿Hay continuidad entre el reconocimiento implícito de la acción intencional en bebés y la lectura de mente explícita en preescolares? Revisión sistemática de la evidencia longitudinal e implicaciones teóricas)

“…Perspective is the way an agent sees or addresses something from a given attentional, conative, affective, visual and conceptional or epistemic point of view (Białecka-Pikul & Białek, 2021). One’s own and others’ perspectives can be coordinated in intersubjective interaction processes, which implies the ability to capture and follow someone’s point of view and adopt others’ points of view (Białecka-Pikul et al, 2022; Tomasello, 2018).…”

“…El estudio sobre el desarrollo de las capacidades cognitivo-sociales de los niños para reconocer, atribuir, inferir o razonar sobre los estados mentales de los demás ha ocupado la atención de filósofos y psicólogos durante varias décadas (Wellman, 2017). A esta capacidad para comprender que el comportamiento está dirigido a objetivos y que los demás tienen estados mentales se le conoce bajo diferentes términos, como teoría de la mente, mentalización, comprensión intencional o lectura de mentes (Białecka-Pikul et al, 2022). En este trabajo se utilizará el término de lectura de mentes porque es conceptualmente más neutral que el de teoría de la mente (Apperly, 2010;Białecka-Pikul & Białek, 2021).…”

“…Studying the development of children's cognitive-social capacities to recognize, attribute, infer or reason about others' mental states has attracted the attention of philosophers and psychologists for several decades (Wellman, 2017). This ability to understand others' mental states is known by different terms, such as theory of mind, mentalization, intentional understanding and mindreading (Białecka-Pikul et al, 2022). In this study, we use the term mindreading because it is conceptually more neutral than theory of mind (Apperly, 2010;Białecka-Pikul & Białek, 2021).…”

Coordinating movements and beliefs: Different facets of doing things together

“…MC's role in such interactions can be interpreted using different timescales (Ram et al, 2014). On the developmental timescale, engagement in such interactions provides the necessary context for developing higher‐level SC processes (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2022). Meanwhile, when using the here‐and‐now timescale, specific interactions are regulated through previously developed social skills via downward causation (Witherington, 2011).…”

“…Data were collected between September 2014 and January 2018, within a larger longitudinal study on children's ToM development with a scope going beyond the experiments described in the present paper (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2022). The participant recruitment procedure and the available sample size followed the requirements of this larger study.…”