学会(研究委員会)主催の外国人研究者の講演 : 〔1998年7月11日(土)に大阪教育大学柏原キャンパスで開催された講演の要旨〕

概要

論文の詳細を見る
In this article I make the assumption that we are especially well adapted for reasoning about the mind. The cognitive processes underpinning this ability seem to function very early in development and play an important part in the growth of related forms of intellectual faculties. In particular, it seems that an early understanding of mind is essential for language development. There is a bi-directional influence, though, because being able to communicate with language then allows the child to gain much deeper psychological insights : Verbal communication allows a window on the minds of other people. However, we have recently obtained evidence to suggest that until about the age of 6 years, children's bias to interpret speech literally is an impediment to their apprehension of utterances as a product of minds. When children overcome this problem beyond 6 years of age, they have potential to gain even deeper psychological insights from verbal information. The account I present depicts development in understanding the mind as a process that continues over a long period ; it contraducts theorists who say that children acquire a theory of mind at the age of 4 years in a singular conceptual shift.
日本教育心理学会の論文
1999-03-30