A broad assessment of theory of mind in adolescence: the complexity of mindreading.
The aim of this research was to provide an articulated assessment of several different ToM components, namely first- vs. third-person, egocentric vs. allocentric, and first- vs. second-order ToM, in preadolescence and adolescence. Our expectations for the sample of 80 juveniles that participated in the research were that: (1) ToM abilities would improve with age; (2) participants would perform better at first-person than at third-person tasks; (3) participants would perform better at first-order than at second-order tasks; (4) girls will perform systematically better than boys. We also explored possible differences in performance (5) in the allocentric vs. the egocentric perspectives as well as (6) in the comprehension of different types of mental states, namely desires, beliefs and positive and negative emotions. Overall our expectations were confirmed. Our data confirmed that all ToM aspects we investigated keep maturing during preadolescence and adolescence.
Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, University of Turin, via Po 14, 10135 Turin, Italy; Neuroscience Institute of Turin, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Turin, Italy. Electronic address: francesca.bosco@unito.it.
Francesca M
FM
Bosco
Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, University of Turin, via Po 14, 10135 Turin, Italy.
Ilaria
I
Gabbatore
Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, University of Turin, via Po 14, 10135 Turin, Italy; Neuroscience Institute of Turin, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Turin, Italy.
Maurizio
M
Tirassa
D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology*; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*
Egocentric vs. allocentric; First vs. third person theory of mind; Mindreading; Self-perception; Social cognition