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Theory of Mind and Sensitivity to Teacher and Peer Criticism Among Japanese Children
Author(s) -
Mizokawa Ai
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
infant and child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.87
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1522-7219
pISSN - 1522-7227
DOI - 10.1002/icd.1877
Subject(s) - criticism , psychology , theory of mind , test (biology) , developmental psychology , affect (linguistics) , cognition , social psychology , communication , art , paleontology , literature , neuroscience , biology
This study investigated sensitivity to teacher and peer criticism among 89 Japanese 6‐year‐olds and examined the connection between sensitivity to criticism and first‐order and second‐order theory of mind separately. Participants completed a common test battery that included tasks assessing sensitivity to criticism (teacher or peer condition), the Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised, and theory of mind tasks. The results showed that the children with better understanding of second‐order mental states rated their ability negatively after teacher criticism, but they were motivated to keep trying. This phenomenon was found under only the teacher condition, and peer criticism did not significantly affect children's response, irrespective of theory‐of‐mind level. Cognitive and social factors that may have contributed to the children's responses to criticism are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.