title: The roles of maternal mind-mindedness and infant security of attachment in predicting preschoolers' understanding of visual perspective taking and false belief.
abstract: This study is a follow-up to a previous study that examined two aspects of mother-child relationships-mothers' mind-mindedness and infant attachment security-in relation to toddlers' early manifestations of theory of mind understanding at 2 years of age. The current study aimed to assess the same two aspects of mother-child relationships in relation to children's (N=59) theory of mind performance at 4 years of age. Results of the current study confirmed and expanded on relations observed at 2 years. Mothers' use of appropriate mind-related comments specifically during toy-based free play at 12 months of age predicted preschoolers' understanding of false belief and Level 2 visual perspective taking over and above earlier perspective-taking abilities. Furthermore, more securely attached boys, but not girls, performed better on a task requiring Level 2 visual perspective taking. The similarity of results across the two time points suggests the reliability of associations among mothers' use of mind-related comments during toy-based play, boys' attachment security, and children's subsequent social understanding. The current results also suggest that maternal mind-mindedness may be most relevant to children's social cognition when assessed in toy-based play contexts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laranjo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada. Electronic address: annie.bernier@umontral.ca.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bernier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meins
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Carlson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D009769:Object Attachment; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attachment; False belief; Mind-mindedness; Mother-child interaction; Theory of mind; Visual perspective taking