Children’s storybooks as a source of mental state references: Comparison between books from Chile, Colombia, Scotland and USA

Children’s storybooks may be considered as an important resource for young children to learn about different mental states (emotions, desires, cognitions); however, mental states represented in stories vary, and may vary across cultures. This study investigates preschoolers’ storybooks from Chile, Colombia, Scotland, and the USA to test similarities and differences in rates and types of mental references. The texts in 160 children’s storybooks (40 per country) were coded. Results showed similarities between countries in the references to desires, psychological states, and physical expressions. Differences between countries were observed, where Chilean books contained more references to cognitions, mood states, and causal talk compared with USA books, and more references to emotions and causal talk compared with Scottish books. Also, Colombian books had more references to emotions and causal talk compared with Scotland and USA books, and more references to physiological states compared with Chilean and Scottish books. Finally, USA books contained more references to perceptions in comparison to Colombian and Scottish books. Similarities were identified between Chilean and Colombian books, and between Scotland and USA books, and more differences between South American books (Chile, Colombia) and those from Scotland and the USA.