Young Children's Understanding of Teaching and Learning and Their Theory of Mind Development: A Causal Analysis from a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Children's understanding of the concepts of teaching and learning is closely associated with their theory of mind (ToM) ability and vital for school readiness. This study aimed to develop and validate a Preschool Teaching and Learning Comprehension Index (PTLCI) across cultures and examine the causal relationship between children's comprehension of teaching and learning and their mental state understanding. Two hundred and twelve children from 3 to 6 years of age from Hong Kong and the United States participated in study. The results suggested strong construct validity of the PTLCI, and its measurement and structural equivalence within and across cultures. ToM and PTLCI were significantly correlated with a medium effect size, even after controlling for age, and language ability. Hong Kong children outperformed their American counterparts in both ToM and PTLCI. Competing structural equation models suggested that children's performance on the PTLCI causally predicted their ToM across countries.

Development of cool and hot theory of mind and cool and hot inhibitory control abilities from 3.5 to 6.5 years of age

“…In conclusion, we provide the first evidence that i) typical development is characterized by an earlier development of the ability to attribute affectively charged than affectively neutral mental states to others and ii) that the growing hot ToM abilities with age are partly rooted in the growing hot IC efficiency. Given that (a) emotion understanding is pivotal for children’s social adjustment and academic achievement [ 62 – 64 ], (b) ToM is a key factor in promoting learning [ 65 – 67 ], and (c) several developmental disorders evidenced subtle differences in cool and hot ToM impairment [ 8 , 16 ], future studies should test the impact of specific cool and hot IC training on the improvement in cool and hot ToM performance as well as on school outcomes [ 68 , 69 ].…”

When a Circle Becomes the Letter O: Young Children’s Conceptualization of Learning and Its Relation With Theory of Mind Development

“…However, the correlational nature of the current study makes it impossible to infer the direction of causation. Wang et al (2017) examined the correlation between 3- and 6-year-old children’s performance on the ToM tasks and a battery of 16 teaching and learning comprehension tasks in a cross-sectional study with two samples from Hong Kong and the United States. A moderate correlation was found between the two constructs, even after controlling for age and verbal ability in both samples.…”

“…It is likely that mature mindreading ability facilitates understanding of teaching and learning. It is also possible that exposure to conflicts in perspectives and knowledge differences may enhance children’s understanding that beliefs might be inconsistent with the reality ( Wellman and Lagattuta, 2004 ; Wang et al, 2017 ). In light of the development of both ToM (e.g., Wang et al, 2016 ) and epistemological understanding ( Burr and Hofer, 2002 ) beyond early childhood, future longitudinal research should test whether epistemological understanding links earlier mental state awareness to later metacognition knowledge.…”

The cultural evolution of teaching

“…Finally, 3- and 4-year-olds have been found to recognise that to transmit information, knowledgeable individuals should teach naive ones (Ziv & Frye, 2004 ; Bensalah et al, 2012 ; Ziv et al, 2016 ). However, only by age 5–6 do children start to recognise that teachers also act on beliefs about their own and the learner's knowledge level – and that these beliefs can be false (Ziv & Frye, 2004 ; Bensalah et al, 2012 ; Ziv et al, 2016 ; Wang et al, 2017 ; Bass et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Different conceptualisations of teaching have also been found in Chinese samples. Unlike Western children, who tend to state that a teacher should preferentially teach a naive learner (as opposed to an already knowledgeable one), Chinese children state that the already knowledgeable learner should be taught, presumably to improve their existing skills (unpublished study discussed in Wang et al, 2017 ). This may be due to differences between Kantian and Confucian philosophy and their cultural downstream effects: while the former defines learning as the process of acquiring knowledge, the latter also views learning as the process of perfecting oneself (Wang et al, 2017 ), which has influenced Chinese folk models of learning (Li, 2002 ).…”