“Pretend you didn't know”: Preschoolers' talk about mental states in pretend play

Fifty preschoolers (mean age = 47 months; SD = 5 months) were recruited from local inner-city nurseries to take part in a study of early friendships and the development of social understanding. Friendship pairs (10 boy-boy pairs; 10 girl-girl pairs and 5 boy-girl pairs) were filmed playing together for 20 minutes in a quiet room supplied with toys and dressing-up materials. The videos were then transcribed and coded for mental-state talk and pretend play. The children were also given a battery of tests tapping theory-of-mind skills and verbal ability. The results indicated a strong association between children's engagement in pretend play, and the frequency and nature of mental-state talk. This association is discussed in relation to (1) effects of context, (2) individual differences in children's understanding of mind and verbal ability, and (3) the social nature of pretend play.