Theory of Mind and Socio-cognitive Development during Infancy and Preschool Years

Abstract

Theory of Mind, a socio-cognitive developmental milestone emerging during preschool years, can be defined as the capacity for attributing mental states - thoughts, beliefs and feelings - to the self and others, as well as for predicting and explaining others’ behaviour and thoughts with reference to those mental states. Individual differences on the acquisition age of a theory of mind have focused the attention of the scientific community on possible contextual facilitators of the socio-cognitive development during infancy and early childhood, such as attachment security, maternal discourse, and siblings’ interaction. A question that remains unanswered is that of the relation between theory of mind and language development. Autism seems to constitute a particular case of absence of a Theory of Mind.