Development of Social Cognition

Theory of mind, or mentalising, refers to our uniquely human capacity to infer what is in other people's minds in order to make sense of what they do and say. Recent research suggests that this skill can be seen as early as the second year of life, in infants' spontaneous helping and communicative behaviours. More sophisticated mentalising skills emerge in the preschool period; these are closely linked both to language development and to children's social competence. Research with typically developing children as well as those with social-communicative disorders suggests that exposure to conversation about feelings, desires and thoughts is likely to promote theory of mind development. [Summary]