Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary; Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, Budapest, Hungary.
Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary; MTA-BME Momentum Language Acquisition Research Group, Eötvös Loránd Research Network(ELKH), Budapest, Hungary.
J Commun Disord. 2024 Nov-Dec;112:106466. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2024.106466. Epub 2024 Sep 16.
Numerous studies have linked deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM) with language problems. We aimed to explore the similarities and differences between children's patterns of performance on a ToM task that requires minimal linguistic skill and a pragmatic inference task that relies on both ToM and language. We assessed variability in pragmatic inference skills and ToM across populations of children (8-14 years) displaying varying cognitive profiles. We further compared the sensitivity of ToM versus pragmatic ability to core language skills, memory and executive functioning (EF).
ToM was tested using the Social Attribution Task (SAT-MC-II). Pragmatic ability was assessed in an implicature comprehension task. Receptive vocabulary, grammar comprehension, short-term and working memory (STM and WM) capacity and EF were measured using Hungarian adaptations of standard tasks and tests developed by the authors' lab. In addition to typically developing (TD) children (n = 33), we included children with neurodevelopmental disorders where ToM and/or language abilities are vulnerable: autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 26), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, n = 25) and developmental language disorder (DLD, n = 18).
Results revealed a significant but only moderate positive correlation between pragmatic inference and ToM indicating that the two abilities are related but distinct. The ASD group showed impairments in both ToM and pragmatic inference ability but no significant deficit was observed in ADHD or DLD relative to TD children in either skill. However, while SAT-MC-II results were only affected by verbal WM and vocabulary measures, pragmatic performance was associated with STM, verbal WM, EF, grammatical skills and vocabulary.
Our findings indicate that disentangling the contributions of different cognitive skills to ToM tasks may help clarify the role of ToM in language skills and identify distinct patterns of ToM and pragmatic skills in developmental disorders.
许多研究将心理理论（ToM）缺陷与语言问题联系起来。我们旨在探索需要最少语言技能的 ToM 任务和依赖于 ToM 和语言的语用推理任务中儿童表现模式的异同。我们评估了表现出不同认知特征的儿童群体（8-14 岁）的语用推理技能和 ToM 的可变性。我们进一步比较了 ToM 与语用能力对核心语言技能、记忆和执行功能（EF）的敏感性。
使用社会归因任务（SAT-MC-II）测试 ToM。在含意理解任务中评估语用能力。使用作者实验室开发的标准任务和测试的匈牙利改编版，测量接受性词汇、语法理解、短期和工作记忆（STM 和 WM）能力以及 EF。除了典型发育（TD）儿童（n=33）外，我们还包括心理理论和/或语言能力脆弱的神经发育障碍儿童：自闭症谱系障碍（ASD，n=26）、注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD，n=25）和发育性语言障碍（DLD，n=18）。
结果显示，语用推理和 ToM 之间存在显著但仅中度正相关，表明这两种能力相关但不同。ASD 组在 ToM 和语用推理能力方面均存在障碍，但与 TD 儿童相比，ADHD 或 DLD 组在这两种技能中均未观察到明显缺陷。然而，虽然 SAT-MC-II 的结果仅受言语 WM 和词汇测量的影响，但语用表现与 STM、言语 WM、EF、语法技能和词汇相关。
我们的研究结果表明，梳理不同认知技能对 ToM 任务的贡献可能有助于澄清 ToM 在语言技能中的作用，并确定发育障碍中 ToM 和语用技能的独特模式。
