Search

The present study examined the role of working memory (WM) in theory of mind (ToM) changes that occur in middle childhood using a training design. The main aim was to investigate whether the extent to which children benefited from ToM training was predicted by their WM. Eighty-six children ( M age = 9.67 years; SD  = 7.38 months) were assigned to either a ToM (N = 46) or a control condition (N = 40). The groups were equivalent at pre-test for age, family, socioeconomic background, vocabulary, reading comprehension, WM, and ToM. Findings indicated that: i) the training promotes ToM, and ii) individual differences in WM moderated improvement in children’s ToM. These results are consistent with the emergence account, according to which WM helps the development of ToM skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent findings have highlighted the importance of children’s social understanding – specifically their reasoning about beliefs and emotions – for school achievement. However, little is known about the processes that may account for such a relationship. In this longitudinal study we examined the role of children’s social competence (as indexed by peer relationships and social skills), using a multi-informant and multi-indicator approach. We followed 73 children during the transition to primary school, gathering data at three time points: Time 1 (age 5), Time 2 (age 7) and Time 3 (age 8). Structural equation modelling showed that Time 1 social understanding predicted Time 2 social competence, which in turn predicted Time 3 school achievement, independently of verbal ability. Moreover, social competence mediated the relationship between early social understanding and later school achievement. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Research on aging has shown a significant decline in ToM after 65 years of age. Despite these age-related difficulties, no study has yet investigated the possibility to improve ToM in older adults. To address this gap we tested the efficacy of a conversation-based ToM training with age-appropriate ToM tasks and its transfer effects on metamemory. Method We examined 72 older adults ( M age = 67.61 years, SD = 6.39 years) assigned to three training conditions: a ToM training, a physical-conversation training and a social-contact group. All participants took part in two 2-h testing and to two 2-h training sessions. Results Results showed that after the intervention, older adults in the ToM training group improved their mental states’ understanding significantly more than participants in the physical-conversation training and in the social-contact groups. Crucially, the positive effect of the ToM intervention generalized to metamemory knowledge. Conclusions This is the first study investigating the efficacy of a ToM training and its transfer effect on metacognition in older adults. From a theoretical point of view, it supports the relation between ToM and metamemory. Practical implications of these data are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Theory of mind is related to reading comprehension. • Theory of mind is not related to mathematical ability. • The relationship between ToM and reading comprehension is bi-directional. We investigated the specificity and direction of the associations between Theory of Mind (ToM) and reading comprehension (RC) via two studies. In Study 1, measures of ToM and RC were gathered alongside measures of verbal ability (VA), working memory (WM) and family affluence in 157 children (mean age = 9;7 years). Results showed that the relationship between ToM and RC remained significant when more general effects of VA, WM and family affluence were taken into account. In Study 2, a new sample of 60 children (mean age = 9;8 years at T1) was followed over a 6-month period, with children completing tests of ToM, RC and mathematical ability at both timepoints. Individual differences in ToM were unrelated to variation in mathematical ability, but showed a bidirectional developmental association with variation in RC. These results extend the knowledge on the relation between ToM and academic achievement in older children and show the existence of a specific relationship between ToM and RC in middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning to read is a dynamic and cumulative process beginning from birth and continuing through the school years. Empirical data showed a decrease of additive genetic (A) and shared environmental (C) components and an increase of non-shared environmental (E) components from preschool to middle school. However, our understanding of the aetiology of continuity and change of reading skills across this developmental period is limited. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we reviewed the results of behavioral genetic research on reading-related neurocognitive skills of 13 longitudinal twin and adoptive sibling studies spanning from preschool/kindergarten to middle/high school. Our findings suggested that continuity was mainly explained by A components throughout the study periods, and, although to a lesser extent and less consistently, by C components during the early years; change was explained by new E components throughout the years, and also by new A components in the early years. As we are interested in models relevant to traits with early onset during development, it is crucial to deepen the investigation of how developmental time can moderate the genetic and environmental variation. • Learning to read is a dynamic and cumulative process from birth onwards. • Across life, heritability and shared environment decrease; unique environment increase. • Understanding of the aetiology of continuity and change of reading skills is limited. • C ontinuity was explained by additive genetic and shared environmental components. • Change was explained by new unique environmental and additive genetic components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Theory of Mind (ToM) is a complex human ability that allows people to make inferences on others’ mental states such as beliefs, emotions and desires. Previous studies on ToM in normal aging have provided heterogeneous findings. In the present study we examined whether a mixed calculation of different aspects of ToM may have contributed to these conflicting results. We had two aims. First, we explored the age-related changes in the performance of cognitive vs. affective ToM. Second, we investigated the extent to which the effect of aging on cognitive vs. affective ToM is mediated by age-related differences in executive functions. Method To address these issues three age groups (young, young-old, and old-old adults) were compared on cognitive and affective ToM using the faux pas test. In addition, participants were tested using a battery of executive function tasks tapping on inhibition, working memory updating, and word fluency. Results The analyses indicated that young adults outperform both young-old and old-old adults on cognitive ToM but not on affective ToM. Correlations showed that, whereas cognitive ToM was significantly associated with age, working memory updating, and inhibition, affective ToM was not. Finally, analyses revealed that individual differences in working memory updating (but not inhibition) mediated the effect of age on cognitive ToM. Conclusion Our findings support the view of selective age-related differences on cognitive, but not affective, ToM in normal aging. The distinction between the two ToM components is further supported by a dissociable pattern of correlations with executive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past literature on prosocial behavior in aging has mainly focused on age-related differences. However, the analysis of the predictors of prosociality in late adulthood is still under investigated. The present study examines how personality traits predict actual and self-reported prosocial behaviors, while considering the mediation effects of empathic concern and the moderator effect of age, in an Italian sample of 150 participants aged from 55 to 86 years old (M age = 69.52). Based on a path analysis model, results revealed that agreeableness has a direct association with self-reported prosocial behavior and an indirect relationship, via empathic concern, with actual prosocial behavior. In addition, emotional stability further explains variations in older adults' prosociality, via empathic concern. Age also plays a different role on actual and self-reported behaviors. While the relationship between empathic concern and actual behavior is the same in middle-aged and older adults, in the self-reported behaviors it changes according to the age of participants. As they grow older, people perform prosocial acts in daily life driven by basic dispositions, such as agreeableness, and not by empathic concern. These findings have important implications regarding the understanding of the motives that drive the different prosocial behaviors in the older population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Metaphor accuracy is linked to inferential skills over time. • Specificity of mental interpretation of metaphors predicted later ToM. • The relationship between metaphor accuracy and ToM is due to inferential skills. We still know very little about the longitudinal relationships between Theory of Mind (ToM) and metaphor understanding in typically developing children. We examined this issue by using a short-term longitudinal design, and by distinguishing between metaphor accuracy (the ability to understand metaphors) and specificity of mental interpretation (the ability to interpret mentally mental, but not physical metaphors). We also distinguished between ToM and the ability to make inferences about physical states. 54 typically developing children (aged 8;6–9;4 years) were tested at baseline and 6 months later. Results showed that metaphor accuracy and inferential skills about physical states were bi-directionally related over time, whereas early specificity of mental interpretation predicted later ToM (and not vice versa). We conclude that: (a) metaphor comprehension and general inferential abilities develop side by side in a mutually supportive way; and (b) the tendency to mentally interpret mental metaphors is a driving factor in ToM development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]