The role of false-belief understanding in preschoolers’ development of metamemory: A training study

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe study herein investigated the mechanisms that may account for the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and metamemory, adopting a dynamic approach that combined a focus on individual differences with the rigorousness of a training design. Sixty-six 4- to 5-year-old children were recruited and assigned to one of two training conditions: a ToM and a control condition. Intervention and control groups were equivalent at pretest for age, verbal ability, working memory, ToM and metamemory. Results showed that following the intervention children in the ToM group were better than those in the control group in their first-order, second-order false belief understanding, and metamemory. Crucially, improvements in first-order false belief understanding, but not in second-order false belief understanding, mediated the positive effect of the training program on metamemory.