Startseite Linguistik & Semiotik Chapter 6. The effects of bookreading with and without mental state themes on preschoolers’ theory of mind
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Chapter 6. The effects of bookreading with and without mental state themes on preschoolers’ theory of mind

  • Carolyn Brockmeyer Cates und Ageliki Nicolopoulou
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Narrative, Literacy and Other Skills
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Narrative, Literacy and Other Skills

Abstract

This chapter reports a study providing evidence that narrative experience, in the form of interactive bookreading, promoted theory of mind abilities of preschoolers. Sixty-seven low-income 4- and 5-year-olds participated in either one of two types of bookreading training or in a control group. The two bookreading conditions involved the reading of books: (1) that included mental state themes such as characters having beliefs counter to reality (false beliefs), or characters deceiving another character to gain something from them (active deception), or characters encountering objects that falsely appear to be one thing but are entirely something else (appearance-reality distinction); or (2) that did not include such mental state themes. The control condition was a no-treatment group in which children continued their daily classroom activities. All children were pre- and post-tested on a battery of theory of mind tasks. Results indicated that children participating in bookreading with or without mental state themes improved in theory of mind abilities from pre- to post-test as compared to the no-treatment control group. However, children who were read storybooks with mental state themes demonstrated greater improvements in active deception than those in the non-mental state themes condition. These results indicate the need for further research to disentangle the impact of mental state themes, mental state concepts, and mental state language in storybooks for promoting theory of mind abilities in children.

Abstract

This chapter reports a study providing evidence that narrative experience, in the form of interactive bookreading, promoted theory of mind abilities of preschoolers. Sixty-seven low-income 4- and 5-year-olds participated in either one of two types of bookreading training or in a control group. The two bookreading conditions involved the reading of books: (1) that included mental state themes such as characters having beliefs counter to reality (false beliefs), or characters deceiving another character to gain something from them (active deception), or characters encountering objects that falsely appear to be one thing but are entirely something else (appearance-reality distinction); or (2) that did not include such mental state themes. The control condition was a no-treatment group in which children continued their daily classroom activities. All children were pre- and post-tested on a battery of theory of mind tasks. Results indicated that children participating in bookreading with or without mental state themes improved in theory of mind abilities from pre- to post-test as compared to the no-treatment control group. However, children who were read storybooks with mental state themes demonstrated greater improvements in active deception than those in the non-mental state themes condition. These results indicate the need for further research to disentangle the impact of mental state themes, mental state concepts, and mental state language in storybooks for promoting theory of mind abilities in children.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. List of contributors xi
  5. About the authors xv
  6. Introduction to narrative, literacy and other skills 1
  7. Part I. The importance of oral narratives for literacy, language and socio-cognitive skills
  8. Chapter 1. The developing language foundation for reading comprehension 21
  9. Chapter 2. Storybooks to promote emergent literacy in kindergarten classrooms 43
  10. Chapter 3. Do children’s oral retellings of narrative and informational texts predict scores on a standardized reading comprehension test? 69
  11. Chapter 4. Does emotional narrative context influence retention of newly learned words? 91
  12. Chapter 5. Enhancing mental state language and emotion understanding of toddlers’ social cognition 109
  13. Chapter 6. The effects of bookreading with and without mental state themes on preschoolers’ theory of mind 129
  14. Chapter 7. Using narrative thinking in argumentative writing 151
  15. Part II. Promoting narrative skills
  16. Chapter 8. New frontiers in facilitating narrative skills in children and adolescents 173
  17. Chapter 9. Precursors of narrative abilities 201
  18. Chapter 10. Enriching parent-child discourse during book sharing 223
  19. Chapter 11. Investigating the effectiveness of the Our Story App to increase children’s narrative skills 245
  20. Chapter 12. Using a storytelling/story-acting practice to promote narrative and other decontextualized language skills in disadvantaged children 263
  21. Chapter 13. Promoting narratives through a short conversational intervention in typically-developing and high-functioning children with ASD 285
  22. Subject index 313
https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.25.07cat

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. List of contributors xi
  5. About the authors xv
  6. Introduction to narrative, literacy and other skills 1
  7. Part I. The importance of oral narratives for literacy, language and socio-cognitive skills
  8. Chapter 1. The developing language foundation for reading comprehension 21
  9. Chapter 2. Storybooks to promote emergent literacy in kindergarten classrooms 43
  10. Chapter 3. Do children’s oral retellings of narrative and informational texts predict scores on a standardized reading comprehension test? 69
  11. Chapter 4. Does emotional narrative context influence retention of newly learned words? 91
  12. Chapter 5. Enhancing mental state language and emotion understanding of toddlers’ social cognition 109
  13. Chapter 6. The effects of bookreading with and without mental state themes on preschoolers’ theory of mind 129
  14. Chapter 7. Using narrative thinking in argumentative writing 151
  15. Part II. Promoting narrative skills
  16. Chapter 8. New frontiers in facilitating narrative skills in children and adolescents 173
  17. Chapter 9. Precursors of narrative abilities 201
  18. Chapter 10. Enriching parent-child discourse during book sharing 223
  19. Chapter 11. Investigating the effectiveness of the Our Story App to increase children’s narrative skills 245
  20. Chapter 12. Using a storytelling/story-acting practice to promote narrative and other decontextualized language skills in disadvantaged children 263
  21. Chapter 13. Promoting narratives through a short conversational intervention in typically-developing and high-functioning children with ASD 285
  22. Subject index 313
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Heruntergeladen am 19.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/sin.25.07cat/html
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