Linked Life Data

11405571

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/11405571

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-6-14
pubmed:abstractText
Research on theory of mind increasingly encompasses apparently contradictory findings. In particular, in initial studies, older preschoolers consistently passed false-belief tasks-a so-called "definitive" test of mental-state understanding-whereas younger children systematically erred. More recent studies, however, have found evidence of false-belief understanding in 3-year-olds or have demonstrated conditions that improve children's performance. A meta-analysis was conducted (N = 178 separate studies) to address the empirical inconsistencies and theoretical controversies. When organized into a systematic set of factors that vary across studies, false-belief results cluster systematically with the exception of only a few outliers. A combined model that included age, country of origin, and four task factors (e.g., whether the task objects were transformed in order to deceive the protagonist or not) yielded a multiple R of .74 and an R2 of .55; thus, the model accounts for 55% of the variance in false-belief performance. Moreover, false-belief performance showed a consistent developmental pattern, even across various countries and various task manipulations: preschoolers went from below-chance performance to above-chance performance. The findings are inconsistent with early competence proposals that claim that developmental changes are due to tasks artifacts, and thus disappear in simpler, revised false-belief tasks; and are, instead, consistent with theoretical accounts that propose that understanding of belief, and, relatedly, understanding of mind, exhibit genuine conceptual change in the preschool years.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0009-3920
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
72
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
655-84
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:articleTitle
Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: the truth about false belief.
pubmed:affiliation
Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-0406, USA. hmw@umich.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Meta-Analysis