The influence of language and socioeconomic status on children’s understanding of false belief

Study 1 investigated whether differences in the lexical explicitness with which languages express false belief influence children’s performance on standard false belief tasks. Preschoolers speaking languages with explicit terms (Turkish and Puerto Rican Spanish) were compared with preschoolers speaking languages without explicit terms (Brazilian Portuguese and English) on questions assessing false belief understanding either specifically (the think question) or more generally (the look for question). Lexical explicitness influenced responses to the think question only. Study 2 replicated Study 1 with groups of both speakers differing in socioeconomic status (SES). A local effect of explicitness was found again as well as a more general influence of SES. The findings are discussed with regard to possible relations among language, SES, and understanding of mind. Research on children’s understanding of mind has resulted in a profusion of reports about the nature of and influences on the development of false belief understanding, a capacity considered central to mature social thought and behavior (e.g., Lewis & Mitchell, 1994; Perner, 1991; Wellman, 1990). Although one can question whether understanding of false belief should be taken a