Theory of mind, birth order, and siblings among preschool children.

Mokhtar Farhadian, Rohani Abdullah, Mariani Mansor, Ma’arof Redzuan, Vijay Kumar, Neda Gazanizad

Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository (Universiti Putra Malaysia) · 2010 · 15 citations · 0 references

Full text

Open access

Concepts

Abstract

This research investigated whether the number of siblings in the family facilitatesthe development of theory of mind (ToM) in preschool children. A battery of tests was administered to measure the ToM and verbal ability of one hundred and sixty three 3.6 to5.6 year-old children. No significant difference was found between ToM and siblings. Incontrast, a significant difference was found between ToM and birth order. Additionally, onundertaking a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, it was found that, over and aboveage and verbal ability, a significant contribution for birth order to ToM development wasobserved.