This research studies the relation between children’s Theory of Mind (ToM) and the communicative behaviour and strategies used in a referential communication task. A total of 46 children (aged 6 to 10) were administered 6 ToM tasks, and they also participated in pairs in a cooperative task. Each pair built 4 construction models. Results showed that several ToM skills were related to the communicative behaviours of requesting clarification and giving information. In addition, the most used communicative strategy was Joint review, in which participants reviewed together the location of their blocks. This strategy was the most related to ToM abilities and to cooperative success. The importance of ToM for developing the communicative behaviours and strategies necessary for cooperation is discussed.

This study aims to investigate victimization of bullying in primary school children, as well as its relationship with children’s perception of being a victim. In a sample of 4646 students from 3rd to 6th grade, we evaluated children’s victimization and cybervictimization behaviors, and children were also asked whether they had been victims of bullying or cyberbullying. From the participants, 36.7% were victims, and 4.4% cybervictims. In addition, 24.2% had a perception of being a victim, and 4.9% a perception of being a cybervictim. On the other hand, 56.9% of victims of traditional bullying had no perception of being a victim. The victimization behaviors of traditional bullying associated with a higher perception of being a victim were threats, while physical and direct verbal aggression implied a lower perception of being a victim. The results suggest the most frequent victimization behaviors may be normalized.

The article Why Is Theory of Mind Important for Referential Communication?, written by Francesc Sidera, Georgina Perpiñà, Jèssica Serrano and Carles Rostan, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 10 August 2016 without open access.