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Published on: May 3, 2016
Siblings, language, and false belief in low-income children
Virginia Tompkins1, M Jeffrey Farrar, Ying Guo
1Department of Psychology, Ohio State University at Lima, OH 45804, USA. tompkins.73@osu.edu
Abstract:
The authors examined the relationship between number of siblings and false belief understanding (FBU) in 94 low-income 4-5-year-olds. Previous research with middle-income children has shown a positive association between number of siblings and FBU. However, it is unclear whether having multiple siblings in low-income families is related to better FBU. Language, specifically vocabulary, was examined as a possible mediator between number of siblings and FBU as several researchers have found that language is causally related to FBU. Contrary to research with middle-income preschoolers, the authors found that number of siblings was negatively related to low-income children's FBU. This relationship was mediated by children's vocabulary skill. Suggestions for why the sibling-FB relationship may differ in low- and middle-income samples are offered.
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