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The Development of Theory of Mind in Deaf Children
Author(s) -
Russell P. A.,
Hosie J. A.,
Gray C. D.,
Scott C.,
Hunter N.,
Banks J. S.,
Macaulay M. C.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/1469-7610.00390
Subject(s) - theory of mind , psychology , test (biology) , false belief , developmental psychology , language development , language acquisition , cognitive psychology , cognition , psychiatry , paleontology , mathematics education , biology
Deaf children aged 4 to 16 years were given a false‐belief test of theory of mind. Although the children experienced difficulty with the test, relative to hearing children, confirming a report by Peterson and Siegal (1995), performance was age‐related, with a significantly higher proportion of 13‐ to 16‐year‐olds passing the test. It was concluded that deaf children raised in a spoken language environment show a developmental delay in theory of mind acquisition. This delay is consistent with the assumption that their early opportunities for learning about mental states are relatively restricted and that the normal development of theory of mind is dependent upon such opportunities.