Executive function and theory of mind in Brazilian children

• Grant number: 14/12756-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Human Development Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Débora de Hollanda Souza
• Grantee: Ligia Maria Pereira Scavassa
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Recent studies have investigated the relation between two important developmental processes in preschool-aged children: theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF). In Brazil, ToM research has made significant progress during the last decade, however, there is still insufficient data on the possible relation between these two variables in small children. The present study aims to contribute by testing possible associations between different measures of executive function and theory of mind in a sample of Brazilian preschool children. Thirty-two children from 3 to 5 years of age will participate in the present study and will be assessed by the Theory-of-Mind Scale (Wellman & Liu, 2004) and by three EF tasks: Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) (Zelazo, 2006), Day/Night (Gerstadt, Hong & Diamond, 1994) and Bear/Dragon (Reed, Pien & Rothbart, 1984) which are measures of inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory, respectively. We hope to find significant and positive correlations between children's performance in the theory of mind scale and in the EF tasks.