Training children's theory-of-mind: A meta-analysis of controlled studies

Stefan G Hofmann, Stacey N Doan, Manuel Sprung, Anne Wilson, Chad Ebesutani, Leigh A Andrews, Joshua Curtiss, Paul L Harris, Stefan G Hofmann, Stacey N Doan, Manuel Sprung, Anne Wilson, Chad Ebesutani, Leigh A Andrews, Joshua Curtiss, Paul L Harris

Abstract

Background: Theory-of-mind (ToM) refers to knowledge and awareness of mental states in oneself and others. Various training programs have been developed to improve ToM in children.

Objectives: In the present study, we conducted a quantitative review of ToM training programs that have been tested in controlled studies.

Data sources: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycInfo, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches.

Review methods: We identified 32 papers with 45 studies or experiments that included 1529 children with an average age of 63 months (SD=28.7).

Results: ToM training procedures were more effective than control procedures and their aggregate effect size was moderately strong (Hedges' g=0.75, CI=0.60-0.89, p<.001). Moderator analyses revealed that although ToM training programs were generally effective, ToM skill-related outcomes increased with length of training sessions and were significantly higher in active control studies.

Conclusion: ToM training procedures can effectively enhance ToM in children.

Keywords: Appearance–reality; False beliefs; Intervention; Meta-analysis; Theory of mind; Training.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Figures

Figure 1. Flow diagram of the study…
Figure 1. Flow diagram of the study selection process
Figure 2. Funnel plot of precision by…
Figure 2. Funnel plot of precision by Hedges's g

References

    1. Appleton M, Reddy V. Teaching three-year-olds to pass false belief tests: A conversational approach. Social Development. 1996;5:275–29. doi: .
    1. Astington JW, Baird JA. Why language matters for theory of mind. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; US; 2005. Why language matters for theory of mind; p. xii, 355.
    1. Astington JW, Jenkins JM. Theory of mind development and social understanding. Cognition and Emotion. 1995;9:151–165. doi: .
    1. Baillargeon R, Scott RM, He Z. False-belief understanding in infants. Trends in Cognitive Science. 2010;14(3):110–118. doi: .
    1. Banerjee R, Watling D, Caputi M. Peer relations and the understanding of faux pas: Longitudinal evidence for bidirectional associations. Child Development. 2011;82:1887–1905. doi: .
    1. Banerjee R, Yuill N. Children's explanations for self-presentational behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology. 1999;29(1):105–111. doi: .
    1. Bartsch K, Wellman HM. Children talk about the mind. New York: Oxford University Press; 1995.
    1. Begeer S, Gevers C, Clifford P, Verhoeve M, Kat K, Hoddenbach E, Boer F. Theory of mind training in children with autism: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2011;41(8):997–1006. doi: .
    1. Begeer S, Howlin P, Hoddenbach E, Clauser C, Lindauer R, Clifford P, Gevers C, Boer F, Koot HM. Effects and moderators of a short theory of mind intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders: A randomized controlled trial. Autism Research. 2015 doi: 10.1002/aur.1489.
    1. Benson JE, Sabbagh MA. Theory of mind and executive functioning: A developmental neuropsychological approach. In: Zelazo PD, Chandler M, Crone E, editors. Developmental social cognitive neuroscience. New York: Psychology Press; 2010. pp. 63–80.
    1. Benson JE, Sabbagh MA, Carlson SM, Zelazo PD. Individual differences in executive functioning predict preschoolers's improvement from theory-of-mind training. Developmental Psychology. 2013;49:1615–1627. doi: .
    1. Bierman KL, Coie JD, Dodge KA, Greenberg MT, Lochman JE, McMahon RJ, Pinderhughes E. The effects of a multiyear universal social-emotional learning program: The role of student and school characteristics. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2010;78(2):156–168. doi: .
    1. Borenstein M, Hedges L, Higgins J, Rothstein H. Comprehensive meta-analysis, version 2. Englewood, NJ: Biostat Inc; 2005.
    1. Borntrager CF, Chorpita BF, Higa-McMillan CK, Weisz JR the Research Network on Youth Mental Health. Provider attitudes towards evidence-based practices: Are the concerns with the evidence or with the manuals? Mental Health Services Research. 2009;60:677–681. doi: .
    1. Bosacki S, Astington JW. Theory of mind in preadolescence: Relations between social understanding and social competence. Social Development. 1999;8(2):237–255. doi: .
    1. Brockmeyer C. Re-reading the relationship between narrative and theory of mind: The effects of narrative training on the developing understanding of mind. Dissertation Abstract International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering. 2010;70(9):5863.
    1. Carbonero Martín MÁ, Sâiz Manzanares MC, Román Sanchez JM. Effect of a metacognitive training program of mentalist skills. Psicothema. 2013;25:31–37.
    1. Carlson SM. Developmentally Sensitive Measures of Executive Function in Preschool Children. Developmental Neuropsychology. 2005;28(2):595–616. doi: .
    1. Cassidy KW, Fineberg DS, Brown K, Perkins A. Theory of mind may becontagious, but you don't catch it from your twin. Child Development. 2005;76:97–106. doi: .
    1. Cassidy J, Parke RD, Butkovsky L, Braungart JM. Family-peer connections: The roles of emotional expressiveness within the family and children's understanding of emotions. Child Development. 1992;63(3):603–618. doi: .
    1. Cerruto A. The effects of training on theory of mind tasks with children who are deaf. Dissertation Abstract International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering. 1999;60(5-B):2383.
    1. Chorpita BF, Daleiden EL. 2007 Biennial report: Effective psychosocial interventions for youth with behavioral and emotional needs. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division, Hawaii Department of Health; Honolulu, HI: 2007.
    1. Chorpita BF, Daleiden EL, Weisz JR. Identifying and selecting the common elements of evidence based interventions: A distillation and matching model. Mental health services research. 2005;7(1):5–20. doi: .
    1. Corcoran R. Theory of mind in other clinical conditions: Is a selective ‘theory of mind’ deficit exclusive to autism? In: Baron-Cohen S, Tager-Flusberg H, Cohen D, editors. Understanding other minds: Perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience. 2nd. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; US; 2000. pp. 391–421.
    1. Cutting AL, Dunn J. Theory of mind, emotion understanding, language, and family background: Individual differences and interrelations. Child Development. 1999;70:853–865. doi: .
    1. Deleau M. Language and theory of mind. European Journal of Developmental Psychology. 2012;9:295–312. doi: .
    1. Devine RT, Hughes C. Silent films and strange stories: Theory of mind, gender, and social experiences in middle childhood. Child Development. 2013;84:989–1003. doi: .
    1. Devine RT, Hughes C. Relations between false belief understanding and executive function in early childhood: A meta-analysis. Child Development. 2014;85:1777–1794.
    1. de Rosnay M, Hughes C. Conversation and theory of mind: Do children talk their way to socio-cognitive understanding? British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 2006;24:7–37. doi: .
    1. de Villiers JG. Can language acquisition give children a point of view? In: Astington JW, Baird JA, editors. Why language matters for theory of mind. New York: Oxford University Press; 2005. pp. 186–219.
    1. Doherty MJ. Theory of mind: How children understand others' thoughts and feelings. New York, NY: Psychology Press; US; 2009.
    1. Doudin PA, Martin D, Albanese O. Metacognition et education: theorie et practique. Berne: Peter Lang; 2001.
    1. Flavell JH. Theory-of-mind development: Retrospect and prospect. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 2004;50:274–290. doi: .
    1. Flavell JH, Flavell ER, Green FL. Development of the appearance–reality distinction. Cognitive Psychology. 1983;15:95–120. doi: .
    1. Gopnik A, Wellmann HM. Why the child's theory of mind really is a theory. Mind & Language. 1992;7:145–171. doi: .
    1. Gopnik A, Wellmann HM. The theory theory. In: Hirschfeld LA, Gelman SA, editors. Mapping the mind: Domain specificity in cognition and culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1994. pp. 257–293. doi: .
    1. Grazzani I, Ornaghi V. How do use and comprehension of mental-state language relate to theory of mind in middle childhood? Cognitive Development. 2012;27:99–111. doi: .
    1. Guajardo NR, Watson AC. Narrative discourse and theory of mind development. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development. 2002;163(3):305–325. doi: .
    1. Hadwin J, Baron-Cohen S, Howlin P, Hill K. Can we teach children with autism to understand emotions, belief, or pretence? Development and Psychopathology. 1996;8(2):345–365. doi: .
    1. Hale CM, Tager-Flusberg H. The influence of language on theory of mind: A training study. Developmental Science. 2003;6(3):346–359. doi: .
    1. Harris PL. The work of the imagination. Oxford: Blackwell; 2000.
    1. Harris PL. Conversation, Pretense, and Theory of Mind. In: Astington JW, Baird J, editors. Why language matters for theory of mind. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; US; 2005. pp. 70–83.
    1. Harris PL, de Rosnay M, Pons F. Language and Children's Understanding of Mental States. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2005;14(2):69–73. doi: .
    1. Hedges LV, Olkin I. Statistical methods for meta-analysis. New York, NY: Academic Press; 1985.
    1. Hedges LV, Vevea JL. Fixed- and random-effects models in meta-analysis. Psychological Methods. 1998;3(4):486–504. doi: .
    1. Howard AA. Mental verb input and children's theory of mind: A training study. Dissertation Abstract International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering. 2009;69(10):6451.
    1. Huedo-Medina TB, Sanchez-Meca J, Marin-Martinez F, Botella J. Assessing heterogeneity in meta-analysis: Q statistic or Isuperscript 2 index? Psychological Methods. 2006;11(2):193–206. doi: .
    1. Hughes C, Graham A. Measuring executive functions in childhood: Problems and solutions? Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2002;7(3):131–142. doi: .
    1. Hughes C, Jaffee S, Happe F, Taylor A, Caspi A, Moffitt T. Origins of individualdifferences in theory of mind: From nature to nurture? Child Development. 2005;76:356–370. doi: .
    1. Jadad AR, Moore RA, Carroll D, Jenkinson C, Reynolds DJM, Gavaghan DJ, McQuay HJ. Assessing the quality of reports of randomized clinical trials: Is blinding necessary? Control Clinical Trials. 1996;17:1–12. doi: .
    1. Jones SM, Brown JL, Aber J. Two-year impacts of a universal school-based social-emotional and literacy intervention: An experiment in translational developmental research. Child Development. 2011;82(2):533–554. doi: .
    1. Jones SM, Brown JL, Hoglund WL, Aber J. A school-randomized clinical trial of an integrated social-emotional learning and literacy intervention: Impacts after 1 school year. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2010;78(6):829–842. doi: .
    1. Kloo D, Perner J. Training transfer between card sorting and false belief understanding: Helping children apply conflicting descriptions. Child Development. 2003;74(6):1823–1839. doi: .
    1. Lecce S, Bianco F, Demicheli P, Cavalini E. Training preschoolers on first-order false belief understanding: Transfer on advanced ToM skills and metamemory. Child Development. 2014;85:2404–2418. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12267.
    1. Lecce S, Bianco F, Devine RT, Hughes C, Banerjee R. Promoting theory of mind during middle childhood: A training program. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014;126:52–67. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2014.03.002.
    1. Lecce S, Caputi M, Hughes C. Does sensitivity to criticism mediate the relationship between theory of mind and academic achievement? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2011;110(3):313–331. doi: .
    1. Lillard AS, Kavanaugh RD. The contribution of symbolic skills to the development of an explicit theory of mind. Child Development. 2014;85:1535–1551.
    1. Lillard AS, Lerner MD, Hopkins EJ, Dore RA, Smith ED, Palmquist CM. The impact of pretend play on children's development: A review of the evidence. Psychological Bulletin. 2012;39:1–34. doi: .
    1. Liu D, Wellman HM, Tardif T, Sabbagh MA. Theory of mind development in Chinese children: A meta-analysis of false-belief understanding across cultures and languages. Developmental Psychology. 2008;44:523–531. doi: .
    1. Lohmann H, Tomasello M. The Role of Language in the Development of False Belief Understanding: A Training Study. Child Development. 2003;74(4):1130–1144. doi: .
    1. Lu H, Su Y, Wang Q. Talking about others facilitates theory of mind in Chinese preschoolers. Developmental Psychology. 2008;44(6):1726–1736. doi: .
    1. McAlister A, Peterson C. A longitudinal study of child siblings and theory of mind development. Cognitive Development. 2007;22(2):258–270.
    1. McDowell DJ, O'Neil R, Parke RD. Display rule application in a disappointing situation and children's emotional reactivity: Relations with social competence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Journal of Developmental Psychology. 2000;46(2):306–324.
    1. Meins E, Fernyhough C, Wainwright R, Gupta MD, Fradley E, Tuckey M. Maternal mind-mindedness and attachment security as predictors of theory of mind understanding. Child Development. 2002;73:1715–1726. doi: .
    1. Milligan K, Astington JW, Dack LA. Language and theory of mind: Meta-analysis of the relation between language ability and false-belief understanding. Child Development. 2007;78(2):622–646. doi: .
    1. Nash HM. Social skills training, training to task, and theory of mind performance among young children. Dissertation Abstract International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering. 2002;62(10-B):4797.
    1. Onishi KH, Baillargeon R. Do 15-month-old infants understand false beliefs? Science. 2005;308:255–258. doi: .
    1. Ornaghi V, Brockmeier J, Gavazzi IG. The role of language games in children's understanding of mental states: A training study. Journal of Cognition and Development. 2011;12(2):239–259. doi: .
    1. Ozonoff S, Miller JN. Teaching theory of mind: A new approach to social skills training for individuals with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 1995;25(4):415–433. doi: .
    1. Paynter J, Peterson CC. Further evidence of benefits of thought-bubble training for theory of mind development in children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 2013;7:344–348. doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2012.10.001.
    1. Perner J, Ruffman T, Leekam SR. Theory of mind is contagious: You catch it from your sibs. Child development. 1994;65(4):1228–1238.
    1. Peskin J, Astington JW. The effects of adding metacognitive language to story texts. Cognitive Development. 2004;19(2):253–273. doi: .
    1. Pons F, Doudin PA, Harris PL, de Rosnay M. Métaémotion et intégration scolaire. In: Lafortune L, Mongeau P, editors. L'affectivité dans l'apprentissage. Sainte-Foy: Presses de l'Université du Québec; 2002. pp. 7–28.
    1. Pons F, Harris PL. Longitudinal change and longitudinal stability of individual differences in children's emotion understanding. Cognition and Emotion. 2005;19(8):1158–1174. doi: .
    1. Qu L, Chee YY, Chene L. Teachers's theory-of-mind coaching and children's executive function predict the training effect of sociodramatic play on children's theory of mind. Social Development. 2015;24:716–733. doi: 10.1111/sode.12116.
    1. Repacholi B, Slaughter V. Individual differences in theory of mind: Implications for typical and atypical development. New York, NY: Psychology Press; US; 2003.
    1. Rieffe C, Oosterveld P, Miers AC, Terwogt MM, Ly V. Emotion awareness and internalising symptoms in children and adolescents: The Emotion Awareness Questionnaire revised. Personality and Individual Differences. 2008;45(8):756–761. doi: .
    1. Rieffe C, Terwogt MM, Petrides K, Cowan R, Miers AC, Tolland A. Psychometric properties of the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire for children. Personality and Individual Differences. 2007;43(1):95–105. doi: .
    1. Rosenthal R. Meta-analytic procedures for social research. rev. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc; 1991.
    1. Rosenthal R. Meta-analytic procedures for social research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications; 1993.
    1. Rosenthal R, Rubin DB. Comment: Assumptions and procedures in the file drawer problem. Statistical Science. 1988;3:120–125. doi: .
    1. Rostan C, Sidera F, Serrano J, Amadó A, Vallés-Majoral E, Esteban M, Serrat E. Fostering theory of mind development. Short and medium-term effects of training false belief understanding. Journal for the Study of Education and Development. 2014;37:498–529. doi: 10.1080/02103702.2014.965464.
    1. Ruffman T, Perner J, Naito M, Parkin L, Clements W. Older (but not younger) siblings facilitate false belief understanding. Developmental Psychology. 1998;34:161–174. doi: .
    1. Ruffman T, Perner J, Parkin L. How parenting style affects false belief understanding. Social Development. 1999;8:395–411. doi: .
    1. Sabbagh MA, Xu F, Carlson SM, Moses LJ, Lee K. The development of executive functioning and theory of mind: A comparison of Chinese and U.S. preschoolers. Psychological Science. 2006;17:74–81. doi: .
    1. Sellabona ES, Sánchez CR, Vallés-Majoral E, Guitart ME, Caballero FS, Ortiz JS. Labelling improves false belief understanding. A training study. The Spanish Journal of Psychology. 2013;16 DOI: .
    1. Slaughter V. Children's understanding of pictorial and mental representations. Child Development. 1998;69(2):321–332. doi: .
    1. Slaughter V, Gopnik A. Conceptual coherence in the child's theory of mind: Training children to understand belief. Child Development. 1996;67(6):2967–2988. doi: .
    1. Slaughter V, Dennis MJ, Pritchard M. Theory of mind and peer acceptance in preschool children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 2002;20(4):545–564. doi: .
    1. Smith H. The effects of a drama-based language intervention on the development of theory of mind and executive function in urban kindergarten children. Dissertation Abstract International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering. 2010;72(5-B):3125.
    1. Sprung M. Unwanted intrusive thoughts and cognitive functioning in kindergarten and young elementary school-age children following Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. 2008;37(3):575–587. doi: .
    1. Sprung M. Clinically relevant measures of children's Theory of Mind and knowledge about thinking: Non-standard and advanced measures. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2010;15(4):204–216. doi: .
    1. Sprung M, Harris PL. Intrusive thoughts and young children's knowledge about thinking following a natural disaster. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2010;51(10):1115–1124. doi: .
    1. Sprung M, Lohmann H, Zauner P, Bauer N. Unpublished Manuscript, Department of Psychology. University of Vienna; Austria: 2011. Theory of Mind and discourse based interventions: Can language structure training really improve theory of mind understanding?
    1. Sprung M, Ristic S, Fritz M, Markova G. Unpublished Manuscript, Department of Psychology. University of Vienna; Austria: 2012. Theory-of-Mind and discourse-based intervention: What aspects of language facilitate theory-of-mind understanding.
    1. Stanzione C, Schick B. Environmental language factors in theory of mind development: Evidence from children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing or who have specific language impairment. Topics in Language Disorders. 2014;34:296–312. doi: .
    1. Steerneman P, Huskens B. The development of a social cognition training for autistic children. Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht. 1996;43(4):291–301. Retrieved from
    1. Taylor M, Carlson SM, Maring BL, Gerow L, Charley CM. The characteristics and correlates of fantasy in school-age children: Imaginary companions, impersonation, and social understanding. Developmental Psychology. 2004;40:1173–1187. doi: .
    1. Taylor M, Hort B. Can children be trained in making the distinction between appearance and reality? Cognitive Development. 1990;5(1):89–99. doi: .
    1. Wang Y, Su Y. False belief understanding: Children catch it from classmates of different ages. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 2009;33:331–337. doi: .
    1. Watson AC, Nixon CL, Wilson A, Capage L. Social interaction skills and theory of mind in young children. Developmental Psychology. 1999;35(2):386–391. doi: .
    1. Waugh C, Peskin J. Improving the social skills of children with HFASD: An intervention study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2015;45:2961–2980.
    1. Weisz JR, Chorpita BF, Palinkas LA, Schoenwald SK, Miranda J, Bearman SK, Daleiden EL, Ugueto AM, Ho A, Martin J, Gray J, Alleyne A, Langer DA, Southam-Gerow MA, Gibbons RD the Research Network on Youth Mental Health. Testing standard and modular designs for psychotherapy with youth depression, anxiety, and conduct problems: A randomized effectiveness trial. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2012;69:274–282. doi: .
    1. Wellman HM. Making minds: How theory of mind develops. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014.
    1. Wellman HM, Cross D, Watson J. Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: The truth about false belief. Child Development. 2001;72:655–684. doi: .
    1. Wellman HM, Fuxi F, Peterson CC. Sequential progressions in a theory-of-mind scale: Longitudinal perspectives. Child Development. 2011;82:780–792. doi: .
    1. Wellman HM, Liu D. Scaling of theory of mind tasks. Child Development. 2004;72:655–684. doi: .
    1. Wellman HM, Peterson CC. Deafness, thought bubbles, and theory-of-mind development. Developmental Psychology. 2013;49:2357–2367. doi: .
    1. Wimmer H, Perner J. Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding of deception. Cognition. 1983;13(1):103–128. doi: .
    1. Xiao X, Yang N, Qian L, Zhou S. Pretend playing training improves theory of mind in children with autism. Psychology. 2014;22:742–745.
    1. Youngblade LM, Dunn J. Individual differences in young children's pretend play with mother and sibling: Links to relations and understanding of other people's feelings and beliefs. Child Development. 1995;66:1472–1492. doi: .
    1. Zhang LJ, Wu N, Zheng Y. The training effects of different linguistic interference on young Chinese performance on a theory of mind task. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 2008;40(7):819–827. doi: .

Source: PubMed

赞助者和合作者

医疗条件

药物干预

3
订阅