‘I Won't Trust You if I Think You're Trying to Deceive Me': Relations Between Selective Trust, Theory of Mind, and Imitation in Early Childhood

Abstract

This study explores connections between 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds’ performance in theory-of-mind tasks, their performance on an assessment of selective trust, and their decisions to (not) imitate the questionable tool choices of an adult model. The prediction was that all the tasks would be related, with improvements in theory of mind and selective trust leading children to be less likely to imitate a model who could be construed as deceptive or unreliable. Controlling for age, we found a positive correlation between false-belief understanding and selective trust but no relation between theory of mind and tool choices. Unexpectedly, children who were more discriminatory in their trust were more likely to imitate. Possible explanations for children's reasoning are discussed.