The link between infant attention to goal‐directed action and later theory of mind abilities |
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Authors: | Gisa Aschersleben Tanja Hofer Bianca Jovanovic |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany;2. Consultorio Familiare Alto Adige, Bolzano, Italy;3. Department of Psychology, University of Giessen, Germany |
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Abstract: | Various studies have shown that infants in their first year of life are able to interpret human actions as goal‐directed. It is argued that this understanding is a precondition for understanding intentional actions and attributing mental states. Moreover, some authors claim that this early action understanding is a precursor of later Theory of Mind (ToM) development. To test this, we related 6‐month‐olds’ performance in an action interpretation task to their performance in ToM tasks at the age of 4 years. Action understanding was assessed using a modified version of the Woodward‐paradigm ( Woodward, 1999 ). At the age of 4 years, the same children were tested with the German version of the ToM scale developed by Wellman and Liu (2004 ). Results revealed a correlation between infants’ decrement of attention to goal‐directed action and their ability to solve a false belief task at the age of 4 years with no modulation by language abilities. Our results indicate a link between infant attention to goal‐directed action and later theory of mind abilities. |
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