Use Of Internal State Language Research Articles

Embracing neurodiversity in doll play: Investigating neural and language correlates of doll play in a neurodiverse sample.

Doll play may provide opportunities for children to rehearse social interactions, even when playing alone. Previous research has found that the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more engaged when children played with dolls alone, compared to playing with tablet games alone. Children's use of internal state language (ISL) about others was also associated with pSTS activity. As differences in social cognition are frequently observed in autistic people, we were interested in the brain and language correlates of doll play in children with varying levels of autistic traits. We investigated children's (N = 57, mean age = 6.72, SD = 1.53) use of ISL and their pSTS brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as they played with dolls and tablet games, both alone and with a social partner. We also investigated whether there were any effects of autistic traits using the parent-report Autism Spectrum Quotient-Children's Version (AQ-Child). We found that the left pSTS was engaged more as children played with dolls or a tablet with a partner, and when playing with dolls alone, compared to when playing with a tablet alone. Relations between language and neural correlates of social processing were distinct based on the degree of autistic traits. For children with fewer autistic traits, greater pSTS activity was associated with using ISL about others. For children with more autistic traits, greater pSTS activity was associated with experimenter talk during solo play. These divergent pathways highlight the importance of embracing neurodiversity in children's play patterns to best support their development through play.

Doll play prompts social thinking and social talking: Representations of internal state language in the brain.

Doll play provides opportunities for children to practice social skills by creating imaginary worlds, taking others' perspectives, and talking about others' internal states. Previous research using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) found a region over the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more active during solo doll play than solo tablet play, implying that doll play might present opportunities for rehearsing theory of mind and empathy skills, even when playing alone. In this research, we addressed this more directly by investigating 4-8-year-old children's (N=33) use of internal state language (ISL; i.e., references to emotions, desires, and cognitions) when playing with dolls and on tablets, both by themselves and with a social partner, and their associated brain activity in the pSTS using fNIRS. We found that children used more ISL about others when playing with dolls than when playing on tablets, particularly when they were playing alone. This mirrored the patterns seen in pSTS activity in previous research. When individual variability in ISL about others was considered, more ISL about others was linked to stronger pSTS activation. Thus, variability in pSTS activity during play is not about the perceptual or physical differences between toys (e.g., dolls are more human-like) but about what children think about when they engage in different kinds of play. This is the first research to investigate brain activity during spontaneously occurring ISL and indicates that children have a tendency to take and discuss others' perspectives during doll play, with implications for social processing in the brain. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/58HgxbuhBzU.

Preliminary effects of a pilot listening comprehension intervention on the narrative abilities of children with ASD

AbstractPurposeMany children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties in narrative production and comprehension. The present study is a pilot test examining the effects of a storybook‐based listening comprehension intervention on the narrative abilities of students with ASD.Method16 children with ASD, aged 7‐12, participated in 8 weeks of intervention (3 45‐minute sessions per week). The intervention provided explicit instruction in specific listening comprehension skills, vocabulary, and writing. Descriptive measures and child‐generated narratives were collected prior to and immediately following the intervention. Children’s narratives were analyzed for evaluation characteristics.ResultsResults from a Wilcoxon signed rank test indicated that participants made significant gains in overall narrative evaluation and the use of internal state language following the intervention.ConclusionsThese preliminary results suggest that this intervention shows initial efficacy in ameliorating the narrative difficulties of students with ASD. This pilot study highlights the social and oral language underpinnings of narrative ability and provides further evidence for intervention practices to support narrative development in children with ASD.

Seven-year-olds' references to internal states when playing with toy figures and a video game.

References to internal states (e.g., thoughts, feelings, and desires) indicate children's appreciation of people's inner worlds. Many children spend time playing video games; however, the nature of children's speech when doing so has received little attention. We investigated the use of internal state language (ISL) as 251 seven‐year‐olds played with toy figures and a video game designed for the study. Although children used ISL more when playing with toy figures, children used ISL in both contexts, highlighting video game play as a context where children demonstrate their appreciation of inner worlds. Children's speech in the two contexts differed in how ISL was used: references to children's own internal states were more common when playing the video game, and the characters' internal states more common when playing with the toy figures. These findings are discussed with reference to the format of the play activities affording different opportunities to discuss internal states.Highlights In traditional play children refer to internal states, however, it is unclear whether this occurs when they play video games.Children referred to internal states when playing with toy figures and a video game, but did so more with the toys.Children's video game play can be used as a new context for the study of children's social understanding.

“This Is a Pit of Fire”: Associations of Play Materials With Children’s Creativity During Play and Internal State Language

ABSTRACT This study investigated how specific characteristics of multipiece, miniature, realistic play props (thematically open-ended village set versus thematically closed-ended train set) designed to enhance children’s pretense influenced their scenario creativity, object transformations, and the frequency and use of specific internal-state language. The sample consisted of 7-year-olds (n = 52) focal children playing with a sibling and a friend and focused on associations of play scenarios (i.e., set-up/organization, expected scenarios, creative scenarios), object use (i.e., set-up/organization, expected use, creative use, and no object), and internal-state language (i.e., references to cognitions, goals, emotions, preferences). Children engaged in more expected scenarios and object use with the closed-ended train set than with the open-ended village set. Play set differentially impacted the use of internal-state language: More references to goals were evident during train play, whereas a trend indicated that children employed more references to cognitions with the village. The pattern of findings indicates that children’s play communications may be associated with specific types of play props; thus, different play props may enhance pretense in different ways.

Assessing the impact of a family nurse-led intervention on young mothers' references to internal states.

ABSTRACTA mother's propensity to refer to internal states during mother–child interactions is important for her child's developing social understanding. However, adolescent mothers are less likely to reference internal states when interacting with their children. We investigated whether young mothers’ references to internal states are promoted by the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) intervention, an intensive home‐visiting programme designed to support adolescent mothers in England. We also investigated family, maternal, and child factors associated with young mothers’ references to inner states during interactions with their children. Adolescent mothers (n = 483, aged ≤ 19 years when recruited in pregnancy) and their children participated in an observational substudy of a randomized controlled trial investigating the impact of FNP compared to usual care. Mother–child dyads were video‐recorded during free play, and mothers’ speech was coded for use of internal state language (references to cognitions, desires, emotions, intentions, preferences, physiology, and perception). We found no differences in mothers’ use of internal state language between the FNP and usual care groups. A sample‐wide investigation identified that other features of mothers’ language and relationship status with the child's father were associated with internal state language use. Findings are discussed with reference to targeted interventions and implications for future research.

Exploring Gender Differences in the Use of Internal State Language in Mother-Adolescent Reminiscing

The use of internal state language (ISL) is socialized in family conversations. In childhood, girls tend to use more emotion words than boys do, and mothers tend to use more emotion words with daughters than with sons. However, research in adolescence has been sparse suggesting that ISL is used equally across both genders. The present cross-sectional study thus examined gender patterns in German adolescents’ and their mothers’ emotion narratives. A total of 60 mother-adolescent dyads (ages 12, 15 and 18 years; each age group with ten male and ten female adolescents) narrated three autobiographical emotional events (sad, angry, happy), individually and jointly. Male and female adolescents did not differ in their use of emotion words, anger and sadness terms or in their use of mental verbs. Only in individual narratives, female adolescents used more global evaluations. Independent of gender, adolescents used emotion words less often in co-narrations with their mothers than in individual narratives. Mothers used mental verbs more often with sons than with daughters but did not differ in their use of emotion words, anger, and sadness terms or global evaluations. The results question existing gender stereotypes and suggest that, in adolescence, both genders equally express subjective perspectives in narratives.

Parents' Use of Internal State Language with Toddlers at High and Low Genetic Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Parents of toddlers with an older sibling with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; high risk, HR) and parents of low risk (LR) toddlers with typically-developing older siblings read a wordless picture book to their child at 22 and 28 months. Parents' and toddlers' internal state language (ISL) was coded; parents reported on toddlers' use of ISL. Diagnostic assessments conducted at 36 months identified three groups: ASD, HR-noASD, LR. Parents did not differ in overall ISL, but parents of toddlers with later ASD attempted to elicit ISL from their children less than parents of LR toddlers. Toddlers increased their use of ISL with age, but those with ASD had lower scores and less age-related improvement than children in the other two groups.

Comparison of Use of Internal State Language in Personal Narratives of Elderly Adults in terms of Gender Differences

Bu araştırmada, yaşlı bireylerin otobiyografik anılarını hatırlarken kullandıkları içsel durumsal dil kategorilerinin cinsiyet farklılıkları açısından karşılaştırılması amaçlanmıştır. İçsel durumsal dil, anlatılan anıyla ilgili duygu (mutluluk, üzüntü), biliş (anlamak, düşünmek), algı (görmek, duymak) ve fizyolojik durum (üşümek, yorulmak) gibi kategorileri içeren ve bireyin yaşadığı olaydan belli bir anlama ulaşmasını sağlayan bilişsel bir süreçtir. Araştırmada, 65 yaş ve üstü toplam 60 bireyden beş yaşam dönemine ait birer anı anlatmaları istenmiş, kaydedilen anılar içsel durumsal dil kategorileri açısından incelenmiştir. Sonuçta, kadın katılımcıların anılarını daha fazla duygusal ifade kullanarak öyküleştirdikleri ve daha fazla olumsuz ifade tercih ettikleri gözlenmiştir. Kadınlar, erkeklere kıyasla ergenliğe dair anılarını daha olumlu ifadelerle anlatırken, orta yaşa ait anıları için daha olumsuz ifadeler kullanmışlardır. Biliş, algı ve fizyolojik durum ifadelerinin kullanımları bakımından herhangi bir cinsiyet farklılığı gözlenmemiştir. Sonuçlar cinsiyetlerin maruz kaldıkları farklı sosyalleşme süreçleri ve yaşla ilgili farklılıklar açısından değerlendirilmiştir.

“I wish my people can be like the ducks”: Children's references to internal states with siblings and friends from early to middle childhood

AbstractThe present study investigated children's internal state language during play with their sibling and friend across early and middle childhood. Specifically, the category type of internal state language (e.g., cognitions and goals), referent (e.g., own and other), and associations with children's birth order were examined. A total of 65 (T1: Time 1) and 46 (T2: Time 2) children were observed at age 4 and 3 years later when children were aged 7 with their sibling and with their friend in two separate play sessions at home. Videos were transcribed and coded for the frequency and category of internal state language. Children referenced cognitions more often with their sibling than friend at T2. Children's references to shared internal states (e.g., “we”) were more frequent at T2 than T1 across relationship contexts. Time effects were found when the category and referent of internal state language were cross‐tabulated (e.g., references to shared goals plus one's own cognitions were more characteristic at T2 than T1). Birth‐order effects were evident at T1 with younger children referencing goals and cognitions with their sibling more often than older children. Results provide new insight into children's use of internal state language across relationship contexts and developmental periods.Highlight The purpose of the present study was to compare children's category type and referent of internal state language across sibling and friend relationships and from early to middle childhood. Results demonstrated that children showed higher rates of cognitive terms at middle childhood, particularly with their sibling, and referred to shared internal states more at middle childhood than early childhood. Findings highlight the importance of considering social context and a longitudinal design when observing children's internal state language during play.

Narratives of Girls and Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Gender Differences in Narrative Competence and Internal State Language.

Since gender differences in the symptomatology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are not well understood, the current study examines the communicative skills of males and females with ASD. Narrative competence and internal state language (ISL) was investigated using narrations elicited by a wordless picture book. 11 girls and 11 boys with ASD and 11 typically developing girls were individually matched. Although results demonstrate largely comparable narrative skills across groups, the groups differed with respect to the size and use of ISL: Girls with ASD verbalized and motivated internal states more often than boys, and both groups with ASD fell behind typically developing children in production of affective words. Implications for the clinical presentation of males and females with ASD are discussed.

‘An Earthquake Shocked Up the Land!’ Children's Communication During Play With Siblings and Friends

AbstractThe construction of shared meanings strategies (e.g., introductions, extensions) and use of internal state language (e.g., references to mental states) during play were examined across two relationship contexts (siblings and friends) in 65 focal kindergarten‐aged children (M age = 56.4 months; SD = 5.71 months). Strategies to construct shared meanings were associated with play session; specifically focal children employed introductions more often with their siblings whereas positive/neutral responses and prosocial strategies were used more frequently with their friends. Findings regarding birth order position indicated that older focal children were more likely to engage in non‐maintenance (e.g., negative) behaviors and explanations with their siblings whereas younger focal children employed extensions of play ideas more often with their siblings than friends. Associations between shared meaning strategies and internal state language were positively correlated across both relationship contexts, with more significant associations found in the sibling play session. Findings highlight the high level of sophisticated play interaction among children during play; these interactions were rich and varied and are discussed in light of recent research and theory.

Mothers' and Fathers' Internal State Language with Their Young Children: An Examination of Gender Differences During an Emotions Task

The current study examined gender differences in mothers' and fathers' internal state language (ISL), children's use of ISL, and whether ISL was related to parents' ratings of the children's social skills. Fifty‐seven (28 boys, 29 girls) toddler/preschool children (M age = 32.5 months, SD = 5.38 months) were observed separately with their mothers and fathers in their homes while they discussed pictures of children's facial expressions of emotions. Parents completed a questionnaire concerning their child's social–emotional behaviours (i.e. BASC‐2). Parents used more ISL with sons compared with daughters, and sons used more ISL with mothers than with fathers. No overall differences were found between mothers' and fathers' ISL. Children's social skills as rated by mothers were predicted by mothers' ISL comments, whereas children's social skills as rated by fathers were predicted by children's age and fathers' ISL clarifications. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Talking about internal states in mother–child reminiscing influences children's self-representations: A cross-cultural study

This study examined the relation of mother–child discussions of internal states during reminiscing to the development of trait and evaluative self-representations in 131 European American and Chinese immigrant 3-year olds. Mothers and children discussed one positive and one negative event, and children were interviewed for self-descriptions. Euro-American mothers and children made more references to internal states and focused more on causal talk than did Chinese, and Euro-American children were more likely than Chinese children to describe their own traits and evaluative characteristics. Mothers’ and children's use of internal state language during reminiscing of the negative event uniquely predicted children's trait and evaluative self-representations, independent of culture. Explanations of internal states and conversing in the negative event context were particularly effective in predicting children's self-representations. Discussions of internal states further mediated cultural influences on children's self-representations. The findings provide new insight into the contribution of parent–child reminiscing to the development of self.

Shifting Spaces and Emerging Voices: Participation, Support, and Conflict in One School Administrative Team

Research Findings: Collaborative work and supportive relationships are highly valued by teachers and school administrators. Collaboration, however, necessitates constructive conflict resolution (P. M. Senge, 1990); yet conflict is often experienced as interpersonally threatening and undermining supportive working conditions. This contradiction is critical for educators wishing to develop prosocial conflict resolution skills in children: It is unrealistic to expect students to resolve conflicts peaceably if adults in the system do not model these behaviors themselves. This study examines the management team of a school engaged in conflict resolution training to assess whether they were able to (a) create a more participatory and supportive team climate and (b) change how team members interacted during conflicts (use of internal state language as well as structural elements—voice and turn-taking behavior—were examined). Results suggest that the team improved its climate along expected dimensions and that, behaviorally, change occurred not according to how much was said or not said by any one teammate, but rather through the shifting dynamics of space among members—how teammates shifted in relation to each other and how much space team members gave to each other to allow for these shifts to happen. Practice or Policy: Theoretical and practical implications for educators and consultants are discussed.

Mothers'andFathers' Use of Internal State Talk with their Young Children

AbstractThe present study extends previous results demonstrating a relation between maternal discourse and child social understanding to include paternal discourse. Emotion understanding (EU) and theory of mind (ToM) were considered as two distinctive aspects of social understanding. Participants were 106 children (54 boys and 52 girls) studied at 3.5 and 5 years. Discourse measures came from separate parent–child conversations during a picture‐book task; measures of EU and ToM came from children's performance on social cognition tasks. Differences in parental talk translated into important differences in the influence of each parent on children's social‐cognitive understanding. Mothers' references to emotion and emotion causal explanatory language predicted children's concurrent EU. Fathers' use of causal explanatory language referring to desires and emotions predicted children's concurrent and later ToM. These results highlight important differences between mothers and fathers in their use of internal state language and its impact on children's social‐cognitive understanding.

Child maltreatment and the self: Individual differences in toddlers' use of internal state language

Child maltreatment and the self: Individual differences in toddlers' use of internal state language