Understanding mind and emotion: longitudinal associations with mental-state talk between young friends
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 28, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
1Medical Research Council Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London, England. clare.hughes@iop.bpmf.ac.uk
Abstract:
Developmental changes in children's understanding of mind and emotion and their mental-state talk in conversations with friends were examined in a longitudinal study of 50 children (M age at each time point = 3 years 11 months, 4 years 6 months, 5 years 0 months). Significant and related improvements over time were found for both theory-of-mind task performance and affective perspective taking. Associated with these cognitive developments were quantitative and qualitative changes in children's references to mental states in their conversations with friends. Individual differences in theory of mind, emotion understanding, and mental-state talk were strikingly stable over the 13-month period. Although there were no gender differences in children's task performances, girls showed more frequent and more developed mental-state talk than boys.
More Related Videos
13:08Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
05:48The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients
Published on: June 12, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Friendships and Close Friendships
Relationships with Peers During Infancy and Toddlerhood
Early Emotional Development During Infancy and Toddlerhood
Empathy
Relationship with Parents: Attachment