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Mothers' Cognitive References to 2‐Year‐Olds Predict Theory of Mind at Ages 6 and 10
Author(s) -
Ensor Rosie,
Devine Rory T.,
Marks Alex,
Hughes Claire
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12186
Subject(s) - psychology , comprehension , theory of mind , developmental psychology , cognitive development , cognition , mental age , variation (astronomy) , child development , age groups , demography , linguistics , philosophy , physics , neuroscience , sociology , astrophysics
Mothers' mental‐state references predict individual differences in preschoolers' false‐belief ( FB ) understanding; less is known about the origins of corresponding variation in school‐age children. To address this gap, 105 children completed observations with their mothers at child ages 2 and 6, three FB tasks and a verbal comprehension test at age 3, and five FB tasks at age 6. Seventy‐seven of these children completed five Strange Stories at age 10. Individual differences in mothers' cognitive references at child age 2 predicted variation in children's FB understanding at age 6 and Strange Stories scores at age 10 (controlling for number of mothers' turns and children's mental‐state references, verbal comprehension and FB understanding at age 3, and mothers' cognitive references at child age 6).