Promoting theory of mind during middle childhood: a training program

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Child Development

Background:

• Growing evidence suggests conversations about mental states enhance theory of mind (ToM).
• The efficacy of such interventions in typically developing school-aged children remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of a conversation-based training program on theory of mind (ToM) in 9- and 10-year-old children.
• To determine if improvements in ToM are sustained over time and independent of executive functions.

Main Methods:

• A conversation-based training program was administered to children aged 9-10.
• Participants were assigned to an intervention group (n=45) or an active control group (n=46).
• Pre- and post-test comparisons on age-appropriate ToM tasks were used, with groups matched on key baseline characteristics.

Main Results:

• The intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in ToM compared to the control group.
• These ToM gains remained significant two months post-intervention.
• In a subsample, improved ToM was not dependent on changes in executive functions.

Conclusions:

• Conversation-based training is an effective method for enhancing theory of mind (ToM) in school-aged children.
• The positive effects on mental state reasoning are durable and distinct from executive function development.