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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
05:35

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Published on: April 19, 2017

False-belief understanding in infants.

Renée Baillargeon1, Rose M Scott, Zijing He

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. rbaillar@illinois.edu

Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|January 29, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Children can attribute false beliefs much earlier than previously thought, with infants in their second year showing this cognitive ability. Spontaneous-response tasks reveal earlier development of theory of mind than traditional elicited-response methods.

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Theory of Mind Research

Background:

  • Traditional research using elicited-response tasks suggests children develop the ability to attribute false beliefs around age 4.
  • Recent studies employing spontaneous-response tasks challenge this timeline, indicating earlier development.
  • Understanding the age of false belief attribution is crucial for comprehending children's social cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence from spontaneous-response tasks regarding early false belief attribution in infants.
  • To compare findings from spontaneous-response tasks with traditional elicited-response methods.
  • To explore reasons why elicited-response tasks may pose challenges for young children.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing research utilizing spontaneous-response tasks in infant studies.
  • Analysis of infant performance in tasks assessing false beliefs about location, identity, and perception.
  • Consideration of alternative interpretations of spontaneous-response task data.

Main Results:

  • Infants in their second year of life demonstrate the ability to attribute false beliefs.
  • This early ability extends to false beliefs concerning location, identity, and perception.
  • Spontaneous-response tasks yield different results compared to elicited-response tasks.

Conclusions:

  • The capacity to attribute false beliefs emerges significantly earlier than previously indicated by traditional methods.
  • Spontaneous-response tasks provide a more sensitive measure of early theory of mind development.
  • Elicited-response tasks may be cognitively demanding for very young children, masking their true abilities.