Cheung Him, Hsuan-Chih Chen, Creed Nikki, Ng Lisa, Ping Wang Sui, Mo Lei
Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin.
Child Dev. 2004 Jul-Aug;75(4):1155-70. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00731.x.
Complex complements are clausal objects containing tensed verbs (e.g., that she cried) or infinitives (e.g., to cry), following main verbs of communication or mental activities (e.g., say, want). This research examined whether English- and Cantonese-speaking 4-year-olds' complement understanding uniquely predicts their representation of other minds (i.e., theory of mind). Results showed that neither meaning of main verbs (communication vs. desire) nor complement structure (tensed vs. infinitival) affected the correlation between complement understanding and theory of mind. More important, the correlation became insignificant after controlling for general language comprehension. These findings led to the conclusion that the syntax of complement per se does not contribute uniquely to theory-of-mind development; general language comprehension is a more important factor to consider.
复合补语是包含限定动词（如“that she cried”）或不定式（如“to cry”）的从句宾语，位于交流或心理活动的主要动词（如“say”“want”）之后。本研究考察了说英语和粤语的4岁儿童对补语的理解是否能独特地预测他们对他人心理的表征（即心理理论）。结果表明，主要动词的意义（交流与愿望）和补语结构（限定性与不定式）均未影响补语理解与心理理论之间的相关性。更重要的是，在控制了一般语言理解能力后，这种相关性变得不显著。这些发现得出的结论是，补语本身的句法对心理理论发展并无独特贡献；一般语言理解能力是更需要考虑的重要因素。
