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Study of Theory of Mind in Preschool Children: Educational Consequences

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph. D. in Psychology, University of Tehran

2 M.A. in Psychology of Azad university

Abstract

Theory of mind helps individuals to understand other individuals’ perspectives about phenomenon, in general, and others stand points in social issues specifically. It also helps individuals to describe, explain and predict others’ behaviors. Current study aimed to study development of theory of mind in preschool children. The design of the study was ex post facto. To fulfill the aforementioned purpose, 60 preschool children (ages 4-6) were sampled from the kindergarten, and preschoolers in district six of Department of Education in Tehran, by means of available sampling and the following measures were given to them: theory of mind tasks, with subtests of one to one correspondence test, doll house, narration of the story, and predicting game in the play format. To analyze data, a Chi Square test was used. Analysis of data revealed that in general age factor was an important factor in determining the level of functioning and its effect was significant (p<0.05). Performance of children in each age was different from the other age groups: five – year olds did better than four – year olds and six-year olds did better than five-year olds. Development of theory of mind will help children to adapt to their social milieu more effectively. In accordance with chronological age development, the magnitude of children’s correct responses increase and children get more accurate perception of self and others in social interactions.

Keywords

References
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Preschool and Elementary School Studies
Volume 1, Issue 3
April 2016
Pages 17-33
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