Theory of mind in children – preliminary research the role of memory and language abilities as developmental indicators

Predškolski uzrast predstavlja period suštinskih promena u sposobnostima dece da eksplicitno rasuđuju o mentalnim stanjima drugih. Cilj istraživanja je bio da se utvrdi odnos između teorije uma, radne memorije i jezičkih sposobnosti kod dece tipičnog razvoja, uzrasta od četiri do osam godina. Za procenu navedenih sposobnosti korišćeni su merni instrumenti: Zadatak lažnog verovanja „Sanja i Ana”, Raspon brojeva unazad, Test verbalnog pamćenja, Test brzine odlučivanja, Gramatika mališana i FONT test. Rezultati istraživanja su ukazali na statistički značajne korelacije između teorije uma, verbalnog pamćenja, kao i nekih aspekata jezičkih sposobnosti. Ipak, kao statistički značajan pokazatelj postignuća na zadacima teorije uma izdvaja se samo verbalno pamćenje (p < .05) koje zajedno sa verbalnom radnom memorijom predviđa 26% varijanse postignuća u usvojenosti teorije uma prvog reda (F = 9.40; df = 2; p = .00) i 15% varijanse postignuća u ukupnom skoru na zadacima procene teorije uma (F = 4.55; df = 2; p = .01). Rezultati istraživanja sugerišu blizak ali intrigantan odnos između teorije uma, egzekutivnih funkcija i jezičkih sposobnosti.Preschool age is a period of fundamental changes in child's ability to explicitly reason about the other people’s mental states. The aim of the research was to determine the relationship between the development of theory of mind, working memory and language abilities in children with typical development, aged four to eight years. For the assessment of listed abilities several instruments were used: "Sanja and Ana" False belief task, Backward span task, Verbal memory test, Decision speed test, Toddler grammar and FONT test. The results of the research indicated statistically significant correlations between theory of mind, verbal memory, as well as some aspects of language abilities. However, as a statistically significant indicator of achievement on theory of mind tasks, only verbal memory stands out (p < .05) which together with verbal working memory predicts 26% of the variance of achievement in first-order theory of mind acquisition (F = 9.40, df = 2; p = .00) and 15% of the achievement variance in the total score on theory of mind tasks (F = 4.55, df = 2, p = .01). Research results suggest a close but intriguing relationship between theory of mind, executive functions, and language abilities