Online usage of theory of mind continues to develop in late adolescence

TLDR

Participants completed a computerized director task across five age groups, moving objects on shelves according to the director’s perspective, with a control condition requiring them to ignore grey‑background slots. Accuracy increased similarly in both conditions from early childhood to late adolescence, yet Adolescent II made more errors than adults in the experimental condition, indicating that theory‑of‑mind use continues to develop into adulthood.

Abstract

The development of theory of mind use was investigated by giving a computerized task to 177 female participants divided into five age groups: Child I (7.3-9.7 years); Child II (9.8-11.4); Adolescent I (11.5-13.9); Adolescent II (14.0-17.7); Adults (19.1-27.5). Participants viewed a set of shelves containing objects, which they were instructed to move by a 'director' who could see some but not all of the objects. Correct interpretation of critical instructions required participants to use the director's perspective and only move objects that the director could see. In a control condition, participants were asked to ignore objects in slots with a grey background. Accuracy improved similarly in both conditions between Child I and Adolescent II. However, while performance of the Adolescent II and Adult groups did not differ in the control condition, the Adolescent II group made more errors than the adults in the experimental condition. These results suggest that theory of mind use improves between late adolescence and adulthood. Thus, while theory of mind tasks are passed by age 4, these data indicate that the interaction between theory of mind and executive functions continues to develop in late adolescence.