Mental state verbs(MSVs)are believed to be closely related with the development of Theory of Mind(ToM).Studies on MSVs have yielded fruitful results abroad over the past three decades,especially in ToM,while it still ...Mental state verbs(MSVs)are believed to be closely related with the development of Theory of Mind(ToM).Studies on MSVs have yielded fruitful results abroad over the past three decades,especially in ToM,while it still has a long way to go for the Mandarin-speaking children.The present study focuses on mental state verbs in Mandarin-speaking children and explores the universality of ToM,as well as the development features.An analysis of their spontaneous speech from the CHILDES archives reveals,first,that Mandarin-speaking children use desire terms much earlier than other terms,suggesting a pattern of theory-of-mind development similar to that in English;second,the developmental trend of the MSVs is relatively steady while the number of different categories varies a lot.This study suggests a consistency in the overall sequence,but variation in the timing of beginning and end points,which is helpful to further related investigation.展开更多
基金sponsored by Hunan Provincial Graduate Scientific Research and Innovation Project(Number:CX20210140)Independent Exploration and Innovation Program of Central South University(Number:2021zzts0450)。
文摘Mental state verbs(MSVs)are believed to be closely related with the development of Theory of Mind(ToM).Studies on MSVs have yielded fruitful results abroad over the past three decades,especially in ToM,while it still has a long way to go for the Mandarin-speaking children.The present study focuses on mental state verbs in Mandarin-speaking children and explores the universality of ToM,as well as the development features.An analysis of their spontaneous speech from the CHILDES archives reveals,first,that Mandarin-speaking children use desire terms much earlier than other terms,suggesting a pattern of theory-of-mind development similar to that in English;second,the developmental trend of the MSVs is relatively steady while the number of different categories varies a lot.This study suggests a consistency in the overall sequence,but variation in the timing of beginning and end points,which is helpful to further related investigation.
