Peer Interaction Does Not Always Improve Children's Mental State Talk Production in Oral Narratives. A Study in 6- to 10-Year-Old Italian Children.

ABSTRACT: Joint narratives are a mean through which children develop and practice their Theory of Mind (ToM), thus they represent an ideal means to explore children's use and development of mental state talk. However, creating a learning environment for storytelling based on peer interaction, does not necessarily mean that students will automatically exploit it by engaging in productive collaboration, thus it is important to explore under what conditions peer interaction promotes children's ToM. This study extends our understanding of social aspects of ToM, focusing on the effect of joint narratives on school-age children's mental state talk. Fifty-six Italian primary school children participated in the study (19 females and 37 males). Children created a story in two different experimental condition

SUBMITTER: Pinto G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5078763 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature