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How Does Mind Reading Affect Story Reading Across Elementary School? Navigating the Cognitive and Emotional Pathways
Haolan Wang1, Hongjun Chen1,2, Yi Zhao1
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Research Center of Children's Reading and Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Child Development
|July 22, 2025
Summary
Advanced theory of mind (AToM) has cognitive and affective parts that help narrative reading comprehension (NRC). Cognitive AToM aids younger readers, while affective AToM supports older readers.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Theory of Mind (ToM) is crucial for social cognition.
- Advanced Theory of Mind (AToM) involves understanding complex mental states.
- Narrative Reading Comprehension (NRC) relies on sophisticated cognitive processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate the cognitive and affective components of AToM.
- To examine the distinct contributions of cognitive and affective AToM to NRC.
- To investigate developmental trajectories of AToM and its relation to NRC across elementary grades.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design with 344 Chinese children (Grades 2-5).
- Assessment of cognitive and affective AToM components.
- Measurement of narrative reading comprehension (NRC).
- Statistical control for 10 confounding variables.
Main Results:
- Both cognitive and affective AToM develop in middle grades (2-3) and stabilize in upper grades (4-5).
- Affective AToM was consistently higher than cognitive AToM across grades.
- Cognitive AToM significantly enhanced NRC in middle grades via metacognitive awareness.
- Affective AToM significantly facilitated NRC in upper grades through reading transportation.
Conclusions:
- AToM development is grade-dependent, with distinct roles for cognitive and affective components.
- Cognitive AToM supports early reading comprehension through metacognition.
- Affective AToM enhances reading comprehension in older children via immersion and emotional connection.
- Findings inform age-specific educational strategies for improving literary appreciation and reading skills.
Keywords:
advanced theory of mindmetacognitive awareness of readingprimary school childrenreading comprehensionreading transportationMore Related Videos
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