Moral reasoning and theory of mind (ToM) are two distinct but related aspects of social cognition. While past research has clearly documented serious delays in ToM development for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) both cross-sectionally (e.g. Happe, 1995) and longitudinally (Peterson & Wellman, 2020) much less is known about the…

Previous research has shown that linguistic cues such as mental and modal verbs can influence young children's judgments about the reliability of informants. Further, certain languages include grammatical morphemes (i.e. evidential markers), which clarify the source of information coming from testimony (e.g., Bulgarian, Japanese, Turkish).…

The relation between children's guilt proneness and theory of mind (???) was examined in children (? = 96) aged 7- to 11-years. Guilt proneness was assessed with a self-report scenario-based measure and ToM was examined with a battery of first-order and second-order mental-state tasks. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that second-order,…

Children make choices between generosity and greed every day. Often they must also choose between confession or denial of antisocial acts like greed, thereby displaying either honesty or hypocrisy. Such choices pose cognitive challenges that, in theory, might reflect children's developing social-cognitions and affect their daily social lives and…

Background: Bullying and poor theory of mind (ToM) are both considered to negatively impact academic performance. However, it is unclear if they have separate effects. Aim: The aim of the current study was to examine the potentially separate associations of bullying and ToM with academic performance. Sample: A general population sample of 1,170…

This 5-year longitudinal study investigated advanced theory-of-mind (AToM) development in 161 German 5- to 10-year-olds (89 females, 72 males). Core aspects of AToM developed nonlinearly, with children reaching a milestone at the age of 7 years, around when they attained the conceptual insight that mental states can be recursive. In late…

This study investigates the impact of the MindPlay Reading program on student literacy achievement in Dayton City Schools, Ohio, during the 2021-2022 academic year. A correlational analysis was conducted in collaboration with LXD Research to examine the relationship between MindPlay usage and student outcomes on literacy assessments. The sample…

Identifying correlates of aggressive behavior in children might help to find potential candidates for interventions in aggression reduction. While some previous studies found that children's Theory of Mind (ToM) and inhibitory control (IC) correlate with aggressive behavior, others did not confirm this relation. One explanation for these mixed…

While there is an emerging body of research investigating the associations between Theory of Mind and reading in both hearing and deaf children, little attention has been given to the connections between ToM and writing, and the potential for developing ToM through the process of writing. In a descriptive study, the authors focused on…

This study examined the relation between Theory of Mind (ToM) and reading comprehension in 42 7- to 9-year-old Hong Kong Chinese children with autism and 55 typically developing peers (TD) who were comparable in age, nonverbal intelligence, and working memory. Relative to their TD peers, children with autism exhibited difficulties with reading…

To date, cross-cultural studies on Theory of Mind (ToM) have predominantly focused on preschoolers. This study focuses on middle childhood, comparing two samples of mainland Chinese (n = 126) and Australian (n = 83) children aged between 5.5 and 12 years. Strange Stories, the most commonly used measure of ToM, was employed. The study aimed to…

We investigated whether preschoolers' social-emotional competencies predict their peer relationships and academic achievements during grade one. Measures of cool and hot executive functions, theory of mind, social-problem-solving, and peer acceptance were administered to a sample of 48 preschoolers (M = 77.91 months). Academic achievement and peer…

Motor skills have been linked to language and social development with implications for theory of mind. This study examined theory of mind (attribution of intentions task) in school-age children (N = 62, mean age 8 years; 2 months, standard deviation [SD] = 1;3) in relation to fine motor skills (grooved pegboard), receptive vocabulary (Peabody…

The present study evaluated: (1) the effects of two training programs designed for promoting Theory of Mind (ToM) skills in children aged 7/8; and (2) the relations between second-order recursive thinking (II-order-RT), advanced-ToM (Adv_ToM) and metacognition. Ninety-one 7- to 8-year-old children were assigned to one of three training conditions:…

This study advances our understanding of the role social studies methods courses can play in supporting pre-service teachers' development of their awareness of civic identities. Specifically, this study examines the use of interactive civic activities in developing preservice teachers' awareness of how their civic identities shape their social…