Children's divergent thinking improves when they understand false beliefs. Creativity Research journal

ABSTRACT. This research utilized longitudinal and cross-sectional methods to investigate the relation between the development of a representational theory of mind and children's growing ability to search their own minds for appropriate problem solutions. In the first experiment, 59 preschool children were given 3 false-belief tasks and a divergent-thinking task. Those children who passed false-belief tasks produced significantly more items, as well as more original items, in response to divergent-thinking questions than those children who failed. This significant association persisted even when chronological age and verbal and nonverbal general ability were partialed out. In a secon