Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Conflicting perspectives mediate the relation between parents’ and preschoolers’ self‐referent mental state talk during collaboration

McLoughlin, Niamh, Leech, Kathryn A., Chernyak, Nadia, Blake, Peter R., Corriveau, Kathleen H. (2019) Conflicting perspectives mediate the relation between parents’ and preschoolers’ self‐referent mental state talk during collaboration. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 38 (2). pp. 255-267. ISSN 0261-510X. (doi:10.1111/bjdp.12316) (KAR id:88042)

Abstract

We examined the relations between the referent of parents and preschoolers’ mental state talk during a collaborative puzzle‐solving task (N = 146 dyads; n = 81 3‐year‐olds, n = 65 4‐year‐olds). The results showed that parents’ references to their own knowledge and beliefs (self‐referent cognitive talk), and references to their child’s knowledge and beliefs (child‐referent cognitive talk) were both related to children’s (primarily self‐referent) cognitive talk. We then tested whether any of the observed relations could be explained by the presence of conflicting perspectives within the collaborative interaction. Mediational analyses revealed that conflicting perspectives mediated the positive relation between parents’ production of self‐referent cognitive talk and child cognitive talk. By contrast, the positive relation between parents’ production of child‐referent cognitive talk and child cognitive talk did not depend on the presence of this type of conflict. These findings highlight an important mechanism through which parents’ references to their own mind might promote children’s developing mental state talk in collaborative contexts.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/bjdp.12316
Uncontrolled keywords: Mental state talk, mental state referent, parent-child interaction, collaboration
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Niamh MCLOUGHLIN
Date Deposited: 11 May 2021 14:07 UTC
Last Modified: 19 Dec 2022 14:40 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/88042 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

McLoughlin, Niamh.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.