Lecce Serena, Bianco Federica, Devine Rory T, Hughes Claire
Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2017 Nov;163:69-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.06.011. Epub 2017 Jul 26.
Studies with preschool children have shown significant links between children's executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM), but few studies have examined these associations in primary school children. To address this gap, we designed a three-wave cross-lagged longitudinal study in which we followed a group of 113 children (61 boys) across three time points from age 9.5-10.5years (mean age at Time 1=112.3months, SD=4.18; mean age at Time 2=118.3months, SD=4.15; mean age at Time 3=124.7months, SD=4.06). At each time point, we measured EF (working memory and inhibitory control), ToM, and language. Our analyses showed (a) moderate rank-order stability of individual differences in both EF and ToM and (b) growth in ToM task performance across time. Cross-lagged longitudinal analyses revealed an asymmetric developmental relation between ToM and working memory. Early working memory predicted later ToM but not vice versa. Our results suggest a specific role for working memory in the ongoing development of ToM in middle childhood.
针对学龄前儿童的研究表明，儿童的执行功能（EF）与心理理论（ToM）之间存在显著联系，但很少有研究考察小学儿童中的这些关联。为了填补这一空白，我们设计了一项三波交叉滞后纵向研究，在该研究中，我们追踪了一组113名儿童（61名男孩），从9.5至10.5岁的三个时间点进行观察（时间1的平均年龄=112.3个月，标准差=4.18；时间2的平均年龄=118.3个月，标准差=4.15；时间3的平均年龄=124.7个月，标准差=4.06）。在每个时间点，我们测量了执行功能（工作记忆和抑制控制）、心理理论和语言能力。我们的分析表明：（a）执行功能和心理理论方面个体差异具有中等程度的等级顺序稳定性；（b）心理理论任务表现随时间增长。交叉滞后纵向分析揭示了心理理论与工作记忆之间不对称的发展关系。早期的工作记忆能够预测后期的心理理论，反之则不然。我们的研究结果表明，工作记忆在童年中期心理理论的持续发展中具有特定作用。
