Mental-State Talk In Child Development
There exists a large body of research dedicated to the importance of close relationships for children’s social, cognitive, and emotional development. In particular, observational research on instances of mental-state talk between siblings and friends has demonstrated the advantages of referencing one’s internal states for theory of mind development, the construction of shared meanings, as well as for the development of affective perspective-taking. Although the literature highlights these advantages for normally developing children, there exists a gap in the literature with regards to how mental-state talk between siblings and friends could affect the social, cognitive and emotional development for children with aggressive behavior.
Past research about the effects of mental-state talk on the development of theory of mind have highlighted the advantage of referencing one’s internal states with regards to performance on false belief tasks. For instance, Brown, Donelan-McCall, & Dunn (1996) observed mental-state language in 47-month-old children at home with their mother, older sibling and close friend. Results indicated that children referred to their mental states most often with their sibling and friend, and did so in a manner of directing their interactions and discussing mutual “mental experiences” with both. Additionally, children who engaged in more mental-state talk were also more likely to perform better on tasks of false belief (explanation and prediction) at both 40 and 47 months of age. The results of this study suggest that […].
Along the same lines of this research, in a longitudinal study, Hughes & Dunn (1998) observed 25 friend pairs in a nursery over a year, while administering tasks that tested theory of mind and emotion understanding. Results demonstrated that children talked more about their mental states with each progressing time point of observation. Along with this increase, the authors also noticed a correlated improvement in tasks of theory of mind and emotion understanding. The results highlight stable improvement in cognitive development as a result of mental-state talk within close childhood relationships. Thus it is evident how mental-state talk in childhood can foster positive cognitive development.
In addition to the literature on cognitive development, mental-state talk has also been examined in the context of constructing shared meaning. For instance, in their same study, Hughes & Dunn (1998) found that children shifted from talking about their own mental states to talking about that of their friend as well, which emphasizes the way in which children can utilize mental-state talk to create a common emotional understanding with their close friends. The author’s findings thus point to the beneficial effects of mental-state talk on emotional development throughout childhood.
In their study, Leach, Howe, & Dehart (2015) conducted home observations on four-year-old focal children as they played with a younger or older sibling and with a friend of the same age. Results indicated that increases in internal-state talk were associated with increases in the usage of strategies to construct shared meanings. In particular, the most significant effects of this association were seen amongst the sibling dyads with the use of semantic tying strategies (i.e., adding on to a sibling’s idea during the interaction) to build a shared meaning. In this case, older siblings utilized more semantic tying strategies, such as in explaining and building on ideas, than their younger siblings (who utilized extensions of ideas most often). These results demonstrate that mental-state talk between siblings, in particular as modeled by older ones, facilitates shared meaning to be constructed, which can in turn benefit development for the younger sibling.
Along with the literature on theory of mind development and construction of shared meaning, mental-state talk has also been examined with regards to children’s affective perspective-taking development. In an observational study, Howe (1991) recorded interactions between 32 preschool-toddler sibling dyads and their mothers and assessed their abilities/proficiency with regards to perspective taking. Results demonstrated that internal state talk was seen more often in children who were better capable of taking others’ perspectives. These same children also referenced internal states more often in themselves and their sibling, thus suggesting an advantage to affective development. At its current standpoint, the literature on mental-state talk revolves heavily on normally functioning children. What remains to be answered is the effects of mental-state talk on social, cognitive and emotional development for children with aggressive behavior.
Investigating such a topic could provide insight on the dynamics between siblings and shed light on the positive impact on development. It could inform practice on how to help children experiencing problems with aggression to regulate their emotions with the help of a close friend or sibling.
