Why Language Matters for Theory of Mind

"Theory of mind" is the phrase researchers use to refer to children's understanding of people as mental beings, who have beliefs, desires, emotions, and intentions, and whose actions and interactions can be interpreted and explained by taking account of these mental states. The gradual development of children's theory of mind, particularly during the early years, is by now well described in the research literature. What is lacking, however, is a decisive explanation of how children acquire this understanding. Recent research has shown strong relations between children's linguistic abilities and their theory of mind. Yet exactly what role these abilities play is controversial and uncertain. The purpose of this book is to provide a forum for the leading scholars in the field to explore thoroughly the role of language in the development of the theory of mind. This volume will appeal to students and researchers in developmental and cognitive psychology.

"...very interesting reading."--PsycCRITIQUES

"...very interesting reading."--PsycCRITIQUES

"...this book offers all the inspiration and a good deal of the background necessary for child language researchers to start contributing to ToM-language debate."--Child Language

Chapter 1. Why language matters: Introduction to the volume, Janet Wilde Astington and Jodie A. Baird

Chapter 2. Language pathways into the community of minds, Katherine Nelson

Chapter 3. Communication, relationships, and individual differences in children's understanding of mind, Judy Dunn and Marcia Brophy

Chapter 4. Conversation, pretense and theory of mind, Paul L. Harris

Chapter 5. Talking about "new" information: The given/new distinction and children's developing theory of mind, Danielle K. O'Neill

Chapter 6. The developmental origins of meaning for mental terms, Derek E. Montgomery

Chapter 7. Language promotes structural alignment in the acquisition of mentalistic concepts, Dare Baldwin and Megan Saylor

Chapter 8. Language and the development of cognitive flexibility, Sophie Jaques and Philip David Zelazo

Chapter 9. Representational development and false-belief understanding, Janet Wilde

Chapter 10. Can language acquisition give children a point of view?, Jill G. de Villiers

Chapter 11. What does "that" have to do with point of view? Conflicting desires and "want" in German., Josef Perner, Petra Zauner, and Manuel Sprung

Chapter 12. Linguistic communication and social understanding, Heidemarie Lohmann, Michael Tommasello, and Sonja Meyer

Chapter 13. The role of language in theory-of-mind development: What deaf children tell us., Peter A. de Villiers

Chapter 14. How language facilitates the acquisition of false-belief understanding in children with autism, Helen Tager-Flusberg and Robert M. Joseph

Chapter 15. Genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in language and theory of mind: Common or distinct?, Claire Hughes