Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting.
Authors: Mulvihill, Aisling, Armstrong, Rebecca, Casey, Charlotte, Redshaw, Jonathan, Scarinci, Nerina, Slaughter, Virginia
Source: British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Sep2023, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p227-245. 19p.
Subjects: Thought & thinking, Teacher-student relationships, Psychology of teachers, Preschools, Research funding, Child psychology, Children
Geographic Terms: Australia
Abstract: The study examined the presence and nature of a relationship between 13 early childhood educators' mental state language (MSL) and 77 preschool children's (3‐ to 5 years) Theory of Mind (ToM). Educator language samples were elicited during two naturalistic group‐time contexts, wordless picture book storytelling and an instructional building task. MSL was coded according to a comprehensive scheme that captures facets of MSL content and quality. To account for well‐established determinants of ToM, a range of child‐ and family‐level factors were also measured. Results indicated no significant relationship between educator MSL during group level instruction and children's ToM in the preschool setting. Although these findings challenge the assumption that educators' MSL is important for children's ToM development, important future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of British Journal of Developmental Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Description
Abstract:The study examined the presence and nature of a relationship between 13 early childhood educators' mental state language (MSL) and 77 preschool children's (3‐ to 5 years) Theory of Mind (ToM). Educator language samples were elicited during two naturalistic group‐time contexts, wordless picture book storytelling and an instructional building task. MSL was coded according to a comprehensive scheme that captures facets of MSL content and quality. To account for well‐established determinants of ToM, a range of child‐ and family‐level factors were also measured. Results indicated no significant relationship between educator MSL during group level instruction and children's ToM in the preschool setting. Although these findings challenge the assumption that educators' MSL is important for children's ToM development, important future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:0261510X
DOI:10.1111/bjdp.12449