Mental State Talk Structure in Children’s Narratives: A Cluster Analysis

Abstract

This study analysed children's Theory of Mind (ToM) as assessed by mental state talk in oral narratives. We hypothesized that the children's mental state talk in narratives has an underlying structure, with specific terms organized in clusters. Ninety-eight children attending the last year of kindergarten were asked to tell a story twice, at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Mental state talk was analysed by identifying terms and expressions referring to perceptual, physiological, emotional, willingness, cognitive, moral, and sociorelational states. The cluster analysis showed that children's mental state talk is organized in two main clusters: perceptual states and affective states. Results from the study confirm the feasibility of narratives as an outlet to inquire mental state talk and offer a more fine-grained analysis of mental state talk structure.

The influence of narrative competence on mental state talk in kindergarten and primary school children

“…Finally, Pinto, Primi, Tarchi, and Bigozzi () investigated the relationship between narrative competence and ToM in kindergarten children by analysing whether children's MST in narratives has an underlying structure, with specific terms organized in clusters. Their results showed that children's narratives were organized in two clusters, one representing narratives with mainly perceptual mental state terms (action‐centred narratives), which appear developmentally earlier, and the other by narrative with mainly affective mental state terms (emotion‐centred narratives), which appear developmentally later.…”

“…The two studies conducted by Pinto et al . (, , ) investigated kindergarten and primary school children separately and with two different research designs, whereas in this study both age groups are included and given the same task. Moreover, prior studies have demonstrated that the structural component plays a pivotal role in narrative competence development (Pinto, Tarchi, & Accorti Gamannossi, ).…”

“…In kindergarten, narratives are considered an emergent literacy skill, as an antecedent of future formal literacy skills (Whitehurst & Lonigan, ); in early primary school, teachers’ focus is on written narratives and the mastery of coding and decoding skills, which could cause an underperformance in narrative competence (Pinto et al ., ); in late primary school, instrumental coding and decoding skills are considered mastered by children, and teachers’ efforts focus more directly on narrative quality. For instance, past studies have suggested that narrative competence might be associated with MST in kindergarten years (Pinto et al ., ), but not in primary school (Pinto et al ., ).…”

A Review of Theory of Mind: Different Mental States and Lifespan Development

“…Zihinsel durum bildiren sözcükler, başkalarına fizyolojik, algısal, duygusal, bilişsel, ahlaki durumlar atfetmek için kullandığımız sözcüklerdir. Birçok araştırma zihin kuramının standart ölçümleri ile zihinsel durum bildiren sözcükleri kullanma arasında güçlü pozitif ilişki bularak zihinsel durum bildiren kelimelerin zihin kuramı değerlendirilmesinde kullanılabileceğini belirtmiştir(Pinto, Primi, Tarchi ve Bigozzi, 2017) Wellman ve Liu (2004). ise çocukların zihin kuramı gelişimini gösteren ve farklı zihinsel durumları kapsayan bir ölçek geliştirmişlerdir.…”

How Do Parents Use Mental State Language During Narration To Their 2- and 4-Year-Old Children?

“…Moreover, the developmental progression in understanding that others' perception could be false occurs from 4 to 5 years of age (Krachun & Lurz, 2016). Additionally, the focus on perceptual states is also clearly marked in 5-year-olds' narrations (Pinto, Primi, Tarchi, & Bigozzi, 2017). Wellman (2017) argues that when children acquire knowledge that beliefs are often the products of information gained by perceptual acts, an appropriate identification of perceptual access is relevant for the appropriate attribution of cognitive states (Wellman, 2017).…”