Week Five Post One

It’s explained in the chapter that theory of mind is a person’s theory of what other people might be thinking. In order to have a theory of mind, children must realize that other people are not necessarily thinking the same thoughts as they themselves are.  Many developmentalists wonder what strengthens theory of mind around the age of 4. During brain maturation context is a huge factor. Language, siblings, and culture all cause an effect. It is proven that no matter what age, children with a greater verbal fluency are more likely to demonstrate theory of mind. This is usually because of experience, especially conversations between the mother and child that involve thoughts and wishes. Therefore it is greatly encouraged to talk to your children as much as possible during their infant days. The more you expose them to communication the better they will understand it. As siblings argue, agree, compete, and cooperate, and as older siblings try to fool them, it dawns on 3-year olds that not everyone thinks as they do. By age 5 children tend to know how to gain parental sympathy to protect themselves against their older siblings, therefore their theory of mind is well established. Growing up with two older siblings I can definitely say I can relate. My brother is about ten years older than me and my sister is seven years older than me so I was an infant, as they were becoming teenagers. My brother and sister would pick on me the normal amount and since I was the youngest I had my mother wrapped around my finger which resulted in my siblings getting in trouble over myself. Culture also affects brain maturation. A study was done to compare theory of mind among young children in pre-schools in Canada, India, Peru, Samoa and Thailand. The study found that the Canadian 5-year-olds were slightly more advanced and the Samoan 5-year-olds were slightly slower in their understanding of theory of mind. Researchers concluded that brain maturation was critical for theory of mind and that language and social interaction and culture were also influential. No two environments are exactly the same, every country has their own ways of doing things which results in numerous learning techniques.