Does executive function influence the development of theory of mind in elementary students?

摘要

The majority of studies on the development of theory of mind (ToM) have focused on the preschool years. The current study examined the impact of conversation-based ToM training and whether a battery of executive function (EF) performance can predict the improvement in Chinese elementary students' ToM from training. A conversation-based training program was implemented for one month and evaluated with pre- and posttest measures of ToM. Ninety-six children were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 49) and control groups (n = 47). Findings indicate that the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater gains in ToM than the control group and that individual differences in a battery of EF performance can predict the improvement of ToM. These results are consistent with the beliefs that conversations about the mind foster improvements in theory of mind in school-aged children, and executive functioning skills can assist school-age children in constructing ToM by facilitating the ability to learn from relevant experience.