Abstract
This study is a follow-up to a previous study that examined two aspects of mother-child relationships-mothers' mind-mindedness and infant attachment security-in relation to toddlers' early manifestations of theory of mind understanding at 2. years of age. The current study aimed to assess the same two aspects of mother-child relationships in relation to children's (N= 59) theory of mind performance at 4. years of age. Results of the current study confirmed and expanded on relations observed at 2. years. Mothers' use of appropriate mind-related comments specifically during toy-based free play at 12. months of age predicted preschoolers' understanding of false belief and Level 2 visual perspective taking over and above earlier perspective-taking abilities. Furthermore, more securely attached boys, but not girls, performed better on a task requiring Level 2 visual perspective taking. The similarity of results across the two time points suggests the reliability of associations among mothers' use of mind-related comments during toy-based play, boys' attachment security, and children's subsequent social understanding. The current results also suggest that maternal mind-mindedness may be most relevant to children's social cognition when assessed in toy-based play contexts.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 48-62 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Child Psychology |
Volume | 125 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2014 |
Keywords
- Attachment
- False belief
- Mind-mindedness
- Mother-child interaction
- Theory of mind
- Visual perspective taking