PROCESSING-BASED LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT AND THEORY OF MIND IN PRESCHOOLERS
Open Access
Author:
Rolnik, Carly Ann
Area of Honors:
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Carol Anne Miller, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Carol Anne Miller, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Elina Mainela Arnold, Faculty Reader Dr. Carol Anne Miller, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
theory of mind
Abstract:
Theory of mind, language and executive functions were assessed in seven children with normally developing language, ages 3 to 5. This study examines language as a predictor of later theory of mind development using processing-based language measures, knowledge-based measures and Wellman and Liu’s (2004) theory of mind tasks. Relatively stronger correlations were found between processing-based language measures and theory of mind than knowledge-based measures and theory of mind. Executive function measures of inhibition and working memory were not highly correlated with theory of mind proficiency. Due to the small sample size, only limited conclusions are possible, but several directions for future research are suggested.