The development of children's theory of mind: The working memory explanation

Abstract

The hypothesis that a growth in working memory capacity could explain the observed development of theory of mind in preschoolers was tested. Fifty‐four 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds were administered: two false belief tasks as measures of theory of mind development; two “false” photograph tasks parallel to typical false belief tasks, but involving nonmental representations; the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test ‐Revised (PPVT‐R); and two working memory capacity measures (backward digit span, BDS, and forward digit span, FDS). A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that BDS significantly predicted performance on both the false belief and false photograph tasks with age and PPVT‐R score controlled, but that FDS did not, suggesting that growth in central executive capacity is important in determining children's success or failure on false belief tasks, but that articulatory loop capacity is not. It is concluded that, in general, the findings are consistent with the working memory hypothesis, although subsequent contingency table analysis revealed that success on the BDS task was not necessary for successful performance on theory of mind tasks.

Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI program

“…On the backward word span task, which assessed working memory, children were asked to repeat a list of words in backward order (Davis & Pratt, 1996). The practice list and the first list each contained two words, and subsequent lists gradually increased to a total of five words.…”

“…The elaborated play of older preschool children, including their ability to sustain synchronized, thematic play, and negotiate turn taking and resource sharing, reflects their growing capacity to mentally represent and follow social scripts, tracking social exchange as they go (Barkley, 2001;Nelson, 2003). Working memory is often assessed with fairly discrete cognitive tasks, such as backward word span (Davis & Pratt, 1996), in which a child must hold words in mind and repeat them in backward order.…”

“…The elaborated play of older preschool children, including their ability to sustain synchronized, thematic play, and negotiate turn taking and resource sharing, reflects their growing capacity to mentally represent and follow social scripts, tracking social exchange as they go (Barkley, 2001;Nelson, 2003). Working memory is often assessed with fairly discrete cognitive tasks, such as backward word span (Davis & Pratt, 1996), in which a child must hold words in mind and repeat them in backward order.Inhibitory control involves the capacity to interrupt a prepotent, habitual, or reactive response and enact an alternative less salient, subdominant response associated with goal attainment. Miyake et al (2000) and Barkley (2001) both suggest that inhibitory control plays a central role in fostering self-regulation, by creating a delay in responding that enables behavioral flexibility and makes possible the strategic selection of alternative behaviors.…”

Links between Theory of Mind and Executive Function: Towards a More Comprehensive Model

“…Leslie & Thaiss, 1992), increases in cognitive resources allow a child to express or apply ToM abilities. In contrast, according to the view that sources can be found in the work of Case (1985), the increase of cognitive resources is not responsible for the expression, but for the development (acquisition) of ToM -the position represented later, amongst others, by Davis and Pratt (1995). All longitudinal research consistently showed that measures of working memory obtained in the earlier period of development were not significant predictors of later ToM skills.…”

Évaluation de l'implication de la mémoire de travail sur des tâches de «théorie de l'esprit» chez la personne âgée avec altération cognitive légère /

“…En effet, comme mentionné dans le contexte théorique Davis et Pratt (1996) ont examiné chez des enfants en développement, la relation entre la aussi en une seule phase concernant la production de la réponse avec rétroaction sur la situation sociale en cours. À ce modèle, il serait possible, par la suite, d'y associer un modèle neuroanatomique de la TdE, ce qui n'a pas été réalisé dans cet essai.…”