Does Training Production of Tensed Complements Accelerate the Development of Theory of Mind?

Sammanfattning: Linguistic deterministic theory proposes that tensed complements structure and prepare children’s ability to understand that others can have beliefs that might not be true, a so-called Theory of Mind (ToM). Others found that training production of mental verbs advanced four-to-five year-olds’ ToM. In this pilot study 46 pre-schoolers completed a programme consisting of 16 intervention sessions, during which all children were read stories enriched with tensed complements. After the story reading, half of the children were trained in the active production of tensed complements. The trained children did not differ from the children that were passively exposed to tensed complements. This renders no support to the role of active production of such complements in ToM development. The findings lead to questioning of the concept of ToM as well as its relation to language.