How language relates to belief,desire, and emotion understanding |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Psychology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand;2. University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK;1. Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy;2. Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University Sapienza of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy;3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, “Guglielmo da Saliceto” Hospital, 29121 Piacenza, Italy;1. The Graduate Center of City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309, USA;2. Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA;1. LUCL, Leiden University, P.N. van Eyckhof 1, 2311 BV Leiden, The Netherlands;2. Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTS, Utrecht University, Trans 10, 3512 JK Utrecht, The Netherlands;1. Freie Universität Berlin, Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Berlin, Germany;2. Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Berlin, Germany;3. Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Berlin, Germany;1. Centre for Affective Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, PO box 72, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom;2. School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Scotland |
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| Abstract: | Two experiments examined syntax and semantics as correlates of theory-of-mind (ToM). In Experiment 1 children’s language was examined at 3 years of age in relation to ToM at 3, 3.5, 4, and 5.5 years. Semantics predicted unique variance in later belief understanding but not desire understanding. Syntax did not explain unique variance in belief or desire. In Experiment 2 two measures of syntax and a measure of semantics were used with 65 3–5-year-olds. The syntax measures tested children’s understanding of word order and embedded clauses. They were related to false belief, but contrary to some predictions, were also related to emotion recognition. Performance on language control tasks with low syntactic demands correlated equally well with false belief. In both experiments performance on the syntax and semantics tasks was highly inter-correlated. We argue that ToM is related to general language ability rather than syntax or semantics per se. |
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