Abstract
There is robust evidence showing a link between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in 3- to 5-year-olds. However, it is unclear whether this relationship extends to middle childhood. In addition, there has been much discussion about the nature of this relationship. Whereas some authors claim that ToM is needed for EF, others argue that ToM requires EF. To date, however, studies examining the longitudinal relationship between distinct subcomponents of EF [i.e., attention shifting, working memory (WM) updating, inhibition] and ToM in middle childhood are rare. The present study examined (1) the relationship between three EF subcomponents (attention shifting, WM updating, inhibition) and ToM in middle childhood, and (2) the longitudinal reciprocal relationships between the EF subcomponents and ToM across a 1-year period. EF and ToM measures were assessed experimentally in a sample of 1,657 children (aged 6–11 years) at time point one (t1) and 1 year later at time point two (t2). Results showed that the concurrent relationships between all three EF subcomponents and ToM pertained in middle childhood at t1 and t2, respectively, even when age, gender, and fluid intelligence were partialled out. Moreover, cross-lagged structural equation modeling (again, controlling for age, gender, and fluid intelligence, as well as for the earlier levels of the target variables), revealed partial support for the view that early ToM predicts later EF, but stronger evidence for the assumption that early EF predicts later ToM. The latter was found for attention shifting and WM updating, but not for inhibition. This reveals the importance of studying the exact interplay of ToM and EF across childhood development, especially with regard to different EF subcomponents. Most likely, understanding others’ mental states at different levels of perspective-taking requires specific EF subcomponents, suggesting developmental change in the relations between EF and ToM across childhood.
Highlights
A major achievement of early development occurs when a child is able to impute mental states to himself/herself and others in order to predict and explain behavior (“theory of mind,” ToM; Frith and Frith, 1999)
We examined whether the relationship between executive function (EF) and ToM pertains in middle childhood (6–12 years)
In line with previous research (Perner et al, 2002; Yang et al, 2009; Calderon et al, 2010), better abilities in executive control of thought or action were related to better development, because on the one hand, the single EF subcomponents may follow different developmental courses and on the other hand, understanding the mental states of others at various levels may put different demands on EF subcomponents
Summary
A major achievement of early development occurs when a child is able to impute mental states to himself/herself and others in order to predict and explain behavior (“theory of mind,” ToM; Frith and Frith, 1999). There is robust evidence that links ToM, (especially first-order false-belief) and these aforementioned specific EF subcomponents – including inhibition (Hughes, 1998a; Carlson and Moses, 2001; Flynn et al, 2004), attention shifting (Frye et al, 1995; Hughes, 1998a), and WM updating (Davis and Pratt, 1995; Keenan et al, 1998) in children aged 3–5 years (see Perner and Lang, 1999, for a review) Several reasons for this relationship have been put forward. To sum up the three types of evidence, the general finding ( from longitudinal studies) in children younger than 4 years is that early EF predicts later ToM, and not vice versa. The second aim of the present study was to examine whether each of the three EF subcomponents (attention shifting, WM updating, inhibition) at t1 predicted ToM at t2 (1 year later), or vice versa, in elementary school-aged children. This is the first study that addresses these issues in a representative sample of children in middle childhood
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