Sheila Degotardi.

New insight into childrens’ minds

New PhD research at Macquarie University is investigating how mothers’ interactions  influence the psychological development of their children.

After gaining a Masters within the Institute of Early Childhood at Macquarie University, where she also works as a lecturer, Sheila Degotardi has now completed doctoral research into child ‘theory of mind’ development.

‘Theory of mind’ is essentially the ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one’s own. Believed to exist in most humans, recent research has focused on whether ‘theory of mind’ is also shared to the same extent by non-human apes, and human children with autism, and whether its development is linked to the acquisition of linguistic skills.

About the study

Research has already established that human children develop theory of mind at different rates. By analysing the interactions between mothers and their children, Degotardi’s study aims to discover whether treating infants in certain ways influences this process.

She hypothesised that the social environment was a contributing factor. Mothers who see their infants as thinking, feeling, intentional beings promote their beliefs to them through talk. This facilitates children’s developing understanding of these otherwise intangible mental-state concepts.

She visited 25 mothers and children in Sydney when their infants were 12, 18, and 24 months old, then followed up when they were nearly four. During each visit the mothers were interviewed about their infants’ characteristics and behaviour, and then were observed during 10-minute play sessions with their infants. In a follow-up visit, four standard tasks assessed the children’s theory of mind development.

The results

Degotardi’s research involved three studies. The first analysed the kinds of beliefs the mothers held about their children, and the ways they were conveyed. A model was developed which was then used to further investigate the nature and developmental consequences of these beliefs.

In the second study, individual variability of mothers’ beliefs was explored. Their beliefs were correlated with their infants’ social and communication skills at 18 and 24 months, and were also related to the mothers’ child-rearing experience and the education they had received.

The third study, investigating the implications of the mothers’ beliefs, revealed that the 4-year-old children with advanced theory of mind understanding had mothers who had expressed high levels of psychologically-oriented beliefs and used psychological talk when their infants were playing. At 12-18 months, these mothers used more “encouragement of autonomy” talk, providing their children with messages about individuality and goal-directed action. By 24 months, these mothers were using high levels of “mental-state” talk, speaking more directly about the contents of their children’s minds.  

For more information, contact Sheila Degotardi at sdeg@aces1.aces.mq.edu.au

The Institute of Early Childhood website is at www.aces.mq.edu.au/iec

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