Pathways to Understanding Mind: Construct Validity and Predictive Validity of Maternal Mind-Mindedness
Child DevelopmentPublished 1 July 2003Open access
Elizabeth Meins, Charles Fernyhough, Rachel Wainwright, David Clark‐Carter, Mani Das Gupta, Emma Fradley
Citations463
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Abstract
The construct validity of maternal mind-mindedness (MM) was investigated in the context of its relations with children's later understanding of mind. MM measures were obtained from infant-mother (N = 52) interactions at 6 months, and from maternal interviews at 48 months. Children's understanding of mind was assessed using theory of mind (ToM) tasks at 45 and 48 months, and a stream of consciousness (SoC) task at 55 months. One of the early MM measures--mothers' appropriate mind-related comments--was a positive independent predictor of: (a) MM at 48 months, and (b) ToM and SoC performance at 45 to 55 months. Path analyses suggested direct links between mothers' use of appropriate mind-related comments and children's later understanding of mind.
Keywords
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