Development of Affective Theory of Mind Across Adolescence: Disentangling the Role of Executive Functions

Vetter, Nora C.; Altgassen, Mareike; Phillips, Louise H.; Mahy, Caitlin E. V.; Kliegel, Matthias

doi:10.1080/87565641.2012.733786

Cited by 104 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…For instance, it has been found that the EF–ToM relationship extends to children between 4 1 / 2 and 6 1 / 2 years for second-order false-belief tasks and more demanding EF tasks (Perner et al, 2002). Similar results have been reported for children of middle childhood (Yang et al, 2009; Calderon et al, 2010) and in adolescents (Vetter et al, 2013). However, results in a sample of 8 1 / 2 year-olds with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were less conclusive (Charman et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

The reciprocal relationship between executive function and theory of mind in middle childhood: a 1-year longitudinal perspective

2014

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There is robust evidence showing a link between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in 3- to 5-year-olds. However, it is unclear whether this relationship extends to middle childhood. In addition, there has been much discussion about the nature of this relationship. Whereas some authors claim that ToM is needed for EF, others argue that ToM requires EF. To date, however, studies examining the longitudinal relationship between distinct subcomponents of EF [i.e., attention shifting, working memory (WM) updating, inhibition] and ToM in middle childhood are rare. The present study examined (1) the relationship between three EF subcomponents (attention shifting, WM updating, inhibition) and ToM in middle childhood, and (2) the longitudinal reciprocal relationships between the EF subcomponents and ToM across a 1-year period. EF and ToM measures were assessed experimentally in a sample of 1,657 children (aged 6–11 years) at time point one (t1) and 1 year later at time point two (t2). Results showed that the concurrent relationships between all three EF subcomponents and ToM pertained in middle childhood at t1 and t2, respectively, even when age, gender, and fluid intelligence were partialled out. Moreover, cross-lagged structural equation modeling (again, controlling for age, gender, and fluid intelligence, as well as for the earlier levels of the target variables), revealed partial support for the view that early ToM predicts later EF, but stronger evidence for the assumption that early EF predicts later ToM. The latter was found for attention shifting and WM updating, but not for inhibition. This reveals the importance of studying the exact interplay of ToM and EF across childhood development, especially with regard to different EF subcomponents. Most likely, understanding others’ mental states at different levels of perspective-taking requires specific EF subcomponents, suggesting developmental change in the relations between EF and ToM across childhood.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

The reciprocal relationship between executive function and theory of mind in middle childhood: a 1-year longitudinal perspective

2014

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“…c To estimate general cognitive ability the subtests Similarities, Block Design, Vocabulary, and Matrices from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children (WISC-IV, German adaptation; Petermann and Petermann, 2007) chosen IAPS pictures beyond recognition using picture manipulation software (www.gimp.org). Because the development of emotion recognition in facial stimuli (Vetter et al, 2013(Vetter et al, , 2014 might interfere with the development of emotional attention targeted here, we used emotional scenes rather than faces. One pair was arranged horizontally and the other vertically around a fixation cross (Fig.…”

Section: Stimuli Design and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mid-adolescent neurocognitive development of ignoring and attending emotional stimuli

Vetter

Pilhatsch

Weigelt

et al. 2015

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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Appropriate reactions toward emotional stimuli depend on the distribution of prefrontal attentional resources. In mid-adolescence, prefrontal top-down control systems are less engaged, while subcortical bottom-up emotional systems are more engaged. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to follow the neural development of attentional distribution, i.e. attending versus ignoring emotional stimuli, in adolescence. 144 healthy adolescents were studied longitudinally at age 14 and 16 while performing a perceptual discrimination task. Participants viewed two pairs of stimuli--one emotional, one abstract--and reported on one pair whether the items were the same or different, while ignoring the other pair. Hence, two experimental conditions were created: "attending emotion/ignoring abstract" and "ignoring emotion/attending abstract". Emotional valence varied between negative, positive, and neutral. Across conditions, reaction times and error rates decreased and activation in the anterior cingulate and inferior frontal gyrus increased from age 14 to 16. In contrast, subcortical regions showed no developmental effect. Activation of the anterior insula increased across ages for attending positive and ignoring negative emotions. Results suggest an ongoing development of prefrontal top-down resources elicited by emotional attention from age 14 to 16 while activity of subcortical regions representing bottom-up processing remains stable.

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“…This prediction was also supported by several studies in childhood and adolescence that examined what can be regarded as a cognitive component of empathy, in that it refers to an emotional inference triggered by an emotional event experienced by a character. These studies showed that this ability becomes more efficient between 8 and 12 years of age (Choudhury, Blakemore, & Charman, 2006) and continues to improve between the ages of 12-13 and 19 years (Keulers et al, 2010;Van der Graaff et al, 2014;Vetter et al, 2013). By contrast, extrapolating from Davis and Franzoi's (1991) study with adolescents, we assumed that the DIS response would decline.…”

Section: The Development Of the Three Components Of Empathymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Basic Empathy Scale adapted to French middle childhood: Structure and development of empathy

et al. 2015

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We adapted the adult French version of the Basic Empathy Scale to French children aged 6-11 years, in order to probe the factorial structure underlying empathy. A total of 410 children (189 girls and 221 boys) were instructed to fill out the resulting Basic Empathy Scale in Children (BES-C). Results showed that, as in adulthood, the three-factor model of empathy (i.e., emotional contagion, cognitive empathy, and emotional disconnection) was more relevant than the oneand two-factor ones. This means that as early as 6 years of age, children's responses should reflect the same organization of the three components of empathy as those of adults. In line with the literature, cognitive empathy increased and emotional disconnection decreased in middle childhood, while emotional contagion remained stable. Moreover, girls exhibited greater emotional contagion than boys, with the reverse pattern being observed for emotional disconnection. No sex difference was found regarding cognitive empathy.

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Development of Affective Theory of Mind Across Adolescence: Disentangling the Role of Executive Functions

Cited by 104 publications

References 36 publications

The reciprocal relationship between executive function and theory of mind in middle childhood: a 1-year longitudinal perspective

The reciprocal relationship between executive function and theory of mind in middle childhood: a 1-year longitudinal perspective

Mid-adolescent neurocognitive development of ignoring and attending emotional stimuli

The Basic Empathy Scale adapted to French middle childhood: Structure and development of empathy

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