'The Italian job?': comparing theory of mind performance in British and Italian children.
Cross-cultural research on theory of mind is relatively recent and largely restricted to comparisons of children from Western versus non-Western samples; much less is known about variation within Western cultures. This study compared 5- to 6-year-olds from Britain and Italy (matched for age, verbal age, gender, and maternal education; N = 140), on tests tapping children's understanding of 1st and 2nd order false belief and mixed emotions. Overall, British children outperformed Italian children; group differences were clearest for tests of false-belief understanding. These results are discussed in relation to contrasts in family talk about mental states, schooling, language comprehension, and cultural factors in Britain and Italy.
University of Pavia, Italy.
Serena
S
Lecce
Claire
C
Hughes
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*; D006113:United Kingdom