Journal
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 20, Issue 7, Pages 805-812Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02377.x
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Funding
- NIDCD NIH HHS [R01 DC005407-01, R01 DC005407-04, R01 DC005407-02, R01-DC05407, R56 DC005407, R01 DC005407-05, R01 DC005407-03, R01 DC005407] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [F31 MH012848-01A1, F31 MH012848-02, 5F31MH12848-02, F31 MH012848, F31 MH012848-03] Funding Source: Medline
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Developmental studies have identified a strong correlation in the timing of language development and false-belief understanding. However, the nature of this relationship remains unresolved. Does language promote false-belief understanding, or does it merely facilitate development that could occur independently, albeit on a delayed timescale? We examined language development and false-belief understanding in deaf learners of an emerging sign language in Nicaragua. The use of mental-state vocabulary and performance on a low-verbal false-belief task were assessed, over 2 years, in adult and adolescent users of Nicaraguan Sign Language. Results show that those adults who acquired a nascent form of the language during childhood produce few mental-state signs and fail to exhibit false-belief understanding. Furthermore, those whose language developed over the period of the study correspondingly developed in false-belief understanding. Thus, language learning, over and above social experience, drives the development of a mature theory of mind.
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