The Role of Executive Function and Theory of Mind in Pragmatic Computations

In sentences such as “Some dogs are mammals,” the literal semantic meaning (“Some and possibly all dogs are mammals”) conflicts with the pragmatic meaning (“Not all dogs are mammals,” known as a scalar implicature). Prior work has shown that adults vary widely in the extent to which they adopt the semantic or pragmatic meaning of such utterances, yet the underlying reason for this variation is unknown. Drawing on theoretical models of scalar implicature derivation, we explore the hypothesis that the cognitive abilities of executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) contribute to this observed variation. In Experiment 1, we show that individuals with better ToM are more likely to compute a scalar implicature and adopt the pragmatic meaning of an utterance; however, EF makes no unique contribution to scalar implicature comprehension after accounting for ToM. In Experiment 2, we replicate this finding and assess whether it generalizes to the comprehension of other pragmatic phenomena such as indirect requests (e.g., “It's hot in here” uttered to ask for something to be done) and metaphor (e.g., “to harvest courage”). This is the first evidence that differences in ToM are associated with pragmatic competence in neurotypical adults across distinct pragmatic phenomena.     

从心理理论与执行功能的关系看孤独症

孤独症是一种病因未明的广泛性发展障碍,它的诊断主要基于患者的行为表现。针对这些行为特点,研究者们提出了心理理论缺失说和执行功能障碍说。但是,有研究表明孤独症患者并不是在所有的心理理论任务和执行功能任务上都存在障碍。所以,单纯地采用心理理论缺失说或执行功能障碍说都不能完整解释孤独症症状。一般来说,心理理论缺失的孤独症个体,同时也伴有执行功能障碍。近年来,大量的研究结果发现,心理理论与执行功能确实存在紧密联系。然而,目前对它们关系的考察主要集中在学龄前儿童的错误信念理解和抑制控制上。心理理论与执行功能都分别包含许多成分,它们彼此的关系可能会在不同年龄段发生变化。因此,研究者需要进一步探查不同年龄段,不同心理理论任务与执行功能不同成分与范式之间的关系,并将这种关系应用于临床实践,帮助诊断和培训孤独症个体。     

The Relation Between Executive Function and Theory of Mind is More Than Skin Deep

A simple “expression” account of the relation between executive function (EF) and children's developing theory of mind (ToM) has difficulty accounting for the generality of the changes occurring in children's mental-state understanding during the preschool years. The current study of preschool children (N = 43) showed that EF—especially conflict EF—related uniformly to ToM measures that imposed either high or low executive demands, independent of verbal ability. These findings can be explained within an emergence account wherein executive skills are implicated in the acquisition of mental-state concepts as opposed to merely the expression of these concepts in task performance.     

抑制性控制在幼儿执行功能与心理理论中的作用

将执行功能任务和心理理论任务中的共同成分——抑制性控制区分为3个不同的难度水平,从而构成心理理论任务（错误信念）的3个变式A1、A2、A3和执行功能任务（白天/黑夜）的3个变式B1、B2、B3。实验1以48名4岁幼儿为被试,探讨对两类任务中各自的3个变式所包含的抑制性控制的难度区分的适当性,结果表明幼儿在两类任务中各自的3个变式上的正确率差异显著,说明其抑制性控制的确表现出了高、中、低3个不同的难度水平;实验2根据实验1所设计的两类任务,以144名3~6岁幼儿为被试,探讨了不同抑制性控制的难度水平在幼儿执行功能和心理理论的相关中的作用,结果表明抑制性控制的难度水平是影响幼儿执行功能与心理理论的相关的一个重要因素。     

Executive Function and Theory of Mind in Children with ADHD: a Systematic Review

In developmental research, the relationship between Executive Function (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) has been extensively assessed, and EF has been considered a condition for ToM. However, few researchers have studied the relationship between EF and ToM in clinical populations, especially that of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention and motor hyperactivity/impulsivity, in which EF is largely impaired. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model, 201 English and Spanish articles evaluating EF and ToM in ADHD were chosen. Fifteen papers met the inclusion criteria and were selected for further analysis. The first study dates from 2001. Most of the studies’ designs are cross-sectional, include mostly male children, have a small sample size, and were conducted in European countries. Unlike tasks assessing EF, tasks assessing ToM were heterogeneous across studies. The EFs most correlated with ToM were inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and attention. Interest in studying the relationship between EF and ToM in ADHD is recent,but increasing based on new findings and tuning of ToM instruments. However, while an association between EF and ToM is indicated in ADHD, the degree of prediction and predictability of one over the other cannot yet be established because of the studies’ heterogeneity.     

幼儿选择性信任与心理理论和执行功能的关联:来自追踪研究的证据

研究选取122名3到5岁幼儿,同时测量了选择性信任、心理理论和执行功能,并控制了幼儿的语言能力,通过追踪研究进行交叉滞后回归分析探讨了幼儿选择性信任与心理理论和执行功能之间的关联。结果表明:幼儿的选择性信任与执行功能呈显著正相关,控制了幼儿的年龄和语言能力之后,相关仍然显著;第一年的选择性信任可以正向预测第二年的执行功能,而第一年的执行功能不能预测第二年的选择性信任;选择性信任与心理理论之间不存在纵向的相互关联。该结果为幼儿选择性信任领域的争议提供了重要的证据支持。     

执行功能与心理理论关系的元分析:抑制控制和灵活转换的作用

心理理论的发展对个体社会化具有重要意义。研究通过元分析的方法,表明执行功能能够有效预测个体心理理论的发展水平(r=0.37,p0.001),且具有跨文化和跨人群的稳定性;同时,在个体的毕生发展中,执行功能均与心理理论存在显著相关,证明了执行功能的表达说;但在不同的发展阶段(Q1=411.75,p10.001,df1=90;Q2=219.49,p20.001,df2=50),心理理论的发展会受到执行功能不同成分的影响:0~3岁时抑制控制起关键作用;3~12岁时,心理理论受到抑制控制和灵活转换的共同影响;青春期阶段,灵活转换的作用明显;而到了成年期,抑制控制与灵活转换均会对心理理论产生积极影响。     

儿童心理理论研究的一个新方向--执行性功能与心理理论之间的关系

关于儿童心理理论发展的研究开始于 2 0世纪 80年代初期 ,是继皮亚杰理论、儿童元认知发展的研究之后又一个有关儿童社会认知的重要研究方面。心理理论意指对自己和他人心理状态的认识 ,并由此对相应行为作出因果性的预测和解释。目前 ,考察执行性功能与心理理论之间的关系已成为西方儿童心理理论研究的一个新方向。本文试就执行性功能与儿童心理理论之间的关系作一简要介绍和分析 ,以期为我国儿童心理理论的研究积累资料 ,并能为在实践中指导儿童心理理论的发展提供借鉴。1　什么是执行性功能　　Welsh和Pennington(1988)将执行性功能定义…     

语言,语义,语言表征,心理理论--从语言获得建构理论谈心理理论和语言能力的关系

语言获得建构论认为儿童利用社会和一般的认知技能进行范畴化。通过主动的用法建构获得语言符号系统。通过大量研究分析推断：儿童心理理论的发展是儿童社会认知概念系统发展和语言表征发展的结果。通过概念系统发展和语言表征以及语言功能性发展的分析,有助于理解语言能力和心理理论的关系。     

幼儿心理理论与执行功能关系的研究

本研究目的在于探讨幼儿的心理理论与执行功能(主要是抑制控制)之间是否存在着某种关系。给39名3～4岁的幼儿施测多种心理理论任务、抑制控制任务、非心理状态任务和智力测量。结果发现：(1)在控制相关因素后,心理理论各任务之间的相关仍然存在;(2)在控制相关因素后,抑制控制诸任务之间仍保持高相关;(3)幼儿在心理理论任务上的表现与其在抑制控制任务上的表现呈显著相关,即使控制了年龄、性别、智力(包括言语智力和操作智力)、非心理状态控制任务之后,这种相关仍旧存在。     

不同维度的执行功能与早期心理理论的关系

采用意外地点任务、意外内容任务和三种不同类型的执行功能任务来探究执行功能与心理理论之间的关系。共60名被试,3岁和4岁被试各30名,男女各半。区分自己心理状态和他人心理状态能力与执行功能的关系主要体现在混合成分执行功能与这一能力的密切联系上;在错误信念发展的早期,执行功能与错误信念理解能力的关系主要集中在“混合成分的执行功能与对自己错误信念理解能力,工作记忆的执行功能与对他人错误信念理解能力”这两对联系上     

Theory of Mind and Executive Functions in Young Bilingual Children

Few studies have explored the relationship between theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF), and bilingualism at the same time. In this study 14 young bilingual children were compared with monolingual children on a test battery composed of 5 ToM tests, 5 EF tests, and 1 test of general language ability. The result showed that despite significantly lower verbal ability, the bilingual children outperformed the monolingual ones on tests of EF. There were no differences in ToM performance. The authors argue that there is a strong relationship between bilingualism and EF, but, contrary to results from earlier studies, they could not find any relationship between bilingualism and ToM. EF did not predict ToM performance. Lack of a significant relationship could be due to the children's young age and consequently their low scores on the ToM tasks.     

记忆提示与表征能力对幼儿心理理论发展的影响

本研究通过经典的错误信念任务及修正后的错误信号和错误照片任务探讨了 3、4、5岁幼儿心理理论的发展以及记忆和表征对这一发展的影响。结果表明 ,3岁儿童还没有具备像 4、5岁儿童那样的心理理论 ;记忆上的帮助并不能提高幼儿在错误信念任务上的成绩 ;所有儿童都能够很好地表征目前及过去的事件     

Imagined Intergroup Contact: Theory, Paradigm and Practice

In this article, we outline a new implementation of intergroup contact theory: imagined intergroup contact. The approach combines 50 years of research into the effects of contact with recent advances in social cognition. It represents both a versatile experimental paradigm for investigating the extended and indirect impacts of social contact, as well as a flexible and effective tool for practitioners and policy makers in their efforts to promote tolerance for multicultural diversity. We describe the theoretical basis for imagined contact effects, document emerging empirical support, and provide a practical guide for researchers wishing to adopt the paradigm. Finally, we discuss the potential application of imagined contact in educational contexts, and how it could be integrated with existing approaches to provide maximally effective strategies for improving intergroup relations.     

Hot and Cool Executive Function and its Relation to Theory of Mind in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

Previous research has clearly demonstrated that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves deficits in multiple neuropsychological functions, such as executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). A conceptual distinction is commonly made between cool and hot EF. In ASD, continued attention has been paid to the cool areas of executive dysfunction. Cool EF has been strongly related to ToM, but research has not taken into account the association between hot EF and ToM in ASD. The present study investigated the associations between hot and cool EF and ToM in 56 school-aged children with ASD and 69 controls on tasks tapping cool EF (i.e., working memory, inhibition, planning), hot EF (i.e., affective decision making, delay discounting), and ToM (i.e., mental state/emotion recognition and false belief). Significant group differences in each EF measure support an executive dysfunction in both domains in ASD. Strong associations between delay discounting and ToM mental state/emotion recognition were found, suggesting that hot EF makes a unique contribution to ToM above and beyond cool EF in typical development and ASD. This study improves understanding of the profile of higher-order cognitive deficits in children with ASD, which may inform diagnosis and intervention.     

不同符号形式数字的数量表征

针对以往对不同符号形式数字数量表征的ERP研究只应用以反应为原点分段平均分析方法,以及忽略对后期符号效应观察,从而造成对数量表征的考察不完善的状况,本研究利用ERP技术,结合借助潜伏期平移思想的以刺激为原点的分段平均方法,对阿拉伯与汉字小写的两位数数字的数量大小比较任务进行考察.结果表明阿拉伯数字与汉字数字在编码表征阶段存在差异,ERP结果中符号效应与距离效应无交互作用,但是在距离效应出现的同时仍然存在符号效应,说明不同符号形式数字的数量表征并非完全相同.     

自我和他人的协调与心理理论的神经机制

有关心理理论神经机制的研究远未达到共识。从自我与他人协调的角度看,可认为它是一个由多脑区有机组织而成的系统。自我中心化偏差是人类认知的一种默认选择,要正确理解他人的心理状态,需要抑制自我中心偏差。因此,心理理论的加工至少包括以下几个不同的过程：通过模拟自我理解他人,相应的加工脑区为镜像神经元系统;从他人与客体形成的二元关系中表征心理状态的内容,相应脑区是颞顶联合区;对模拟自我进行抑制,相应脑区为背外侧额叶;以及整合协调以上几个过程,其脑区可能是内侧前额叶     

Narrative Discourse and Theory of Mind Development

The authors examined experimentally whether exposure to social discourse about concepts related to mental states could promote changes in children's theory of mind understanding. In 2 studies, 3- to 4-year-old children were assigned to either a training or a no training control condition. All children were administered several theory of mind measures at pretest and 2 posttests. Training was not effective in improving performance in Study 1 (n = 37); but in Study 2 (n = 54), modifications of the training procedure led to significant improvements on measures of false belief and deception from pretest to 1st posttest. The findings support the influence of social discourse on children's theory of mind development.     

Parental Practices and Theory of Mind Development

In the past three decades, psychologists have become increasingly interested in the study of theory of mind. This ability involves an understanding of different components of the mind (e.g., emotions, thoughts, beliefs) and of how they are related to human behavior. Several parents’ characteristics (e.g., attachment, mental-state talk) have been associated to children’s theory-of-mind development, but the variables and methods adopted are diverse and at times lead to inconsistent findings. The goal of the present paper, therefore, is to provide a literature review that can point both to possible ways in which discrepancies might be overcome and to promising research directions. Our review covers 78 research reports published in English between 1980 and 2011. Only empirical studies, using children as participants, were included in the review. Three main suggestions are offered for researchers, parents and practitioners on how to nurture young children’s understanding of mind: (a) to treat children as intentional agents, acting in a sensitive and responsive fashion to their mental states; (b) to speak to children about mental states in an elaborate and connected way, pointing out their causes and consequences, and explaining that these may be different for different people; and (c) to expose children to a wide range of emotions while being careful to not express over-frequent and inconsistent negative affect. One limitation of the present review, however, is that we do not look into how parental practices interact with certain individual characteristics of the child (e.g., personality, IQ and language skills). Future research should explore the multifaceted nature of these relationships and interactions.