Understanding the Development of Mental Representation from a socio-cultural perspective

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K04327
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Osaka Shoin Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Tsuji Hiromi 大阪樟蔭女子大学, 学芸学部, 教授 (80411453)
• Research Collaborator: MITCHELL Peter ; TOI Yoko ; YAMADA Chieko
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 心の理論 / 実行機能 / 心的状態語 / 誤信念理解 / 視線解析 / 言語 / 文化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigated the role of language and cognitive control in the development of theory-of-mind (ToM), which is the ability to infer inner-states of other people. Three year-old children’s use of mental state words was related to the early phase of development of ToM. The use of mental state words predicted the subsequent development of cognitive control, which was concurrently related to the development of ToM. These relationships suggest that the early use of mental state words provides a foundation for cognitive control and the subsequent development of ToM. Causality of events was also related to ToM, with and without the influence of cognitive control. For the inference of other people’s inner states, the processing of linguistic information impacted significantly on the performance of ToM, suggesting that language may play a more significant role than has previously been reported.

Free Research Field

教育心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

縦断および横断デザインを用いた研究から，他者の内面を理解する力（心の理論）の発達を言語と認知コントロールの両面から検討し，幼児初期からの言語と認知コントロールのはたらきの重要性を明らかにすることができた。これらは，幼児初期の言語や認知コントロールを育む環境設定の重要性を示唆する。また，日本語話者を対象として検討した本研究では，これまでのインド・ヨーロッパ言語話者を対象とした心の理論研究知見には見られていない現象が確認されたことから，文化と言語が社会認知全般とその発達にもたらす影響を社会文化（マクロ）視点と視線や注意などの低次元の情報処理（マイクロ）視点から検討していく意義や可能性が見出せた。