A longitudinal, microgenetic study of the emergence of false belief understanding and inhibition skills.
Two theories that attempt to explain the relationship between false belief understanding and inhibition skills were investigated: (1) theory of mind development improves self-control, and (2) executive control is necessary for developing a theory of mind. A microgenetic approach was adopted, with a group of 21 children completing a battery of inhibition and false belief understanding tasks every four weeks for six phases of testing. The results showed that the majority of children were able to perform well on a test of executive inhibition before having a good understanding of false beliefs, thus supporting theory (2). The results also illustrated that while the children's inhibition skills developed relatively gradually, their understanding of false beliefs progressed from a consistent lack of understanding through a period of unstable performance, during which some children failed tests that they had previously passed.
School of Psychology University of St Andrews, Fife, UK. egf1@st-andrews.ac.uk
Emma
E
Flynn
Claire
C
O'Malley
David
D
Wood
D002675:Child, Preschool; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D011582:Psychological Theory; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012938:Social Perception; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology