Sociocognitive development of theory of mind: interventional studies with children aged three and four years

Abstract

The aim of the research was to investigate the efficacy of interventional procedures, with emphasis on the acquisition of mental verbs and on the practice of attributing mental states on the development of theory of mind in children aged 3 and 4 years old. 102 children participated in this research and were divided into three different studies. The first study aimed to assess the adequacy of the proposed interventions, the second study investigated the effect of interventions and the third study evaluated the effectiveness of the training of three adults in the application of evaluative and interventional procedures. The results generally showed that the interventional procedures had a positive effect on the development of theory of mind in young children. The emphasis on mental verbs seems to have no significant effect. Training people in application of evaluative and interventional procedures proved to be efficient. Technical aspects in the use of interventional and evaluative techniques presented peculiarities with regard to the material and language used.