ERIC Number: EJ685661
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Jan
Pages: 10
Abstractor: Author
Reference Count: 36
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
Theory of Mind May Be Contagious, but You Don't Catch It From Your Twin
Cassidy, Kimberly Wright; Fineberg, Deborah Shaw; Brown, Kimberly; Perkins, Alexis
Child Development, v76 n1 p97-106 Jan 2005
The theory-of-mind abilities of twins, children with nontwin siblings, and only children were compared to investigate further the link between number and type of siblings and theory-of-mind abilities. Three- to 5-year-old children with nontwin siblings outperformed both only children and twins with no other siblings, twins who also had other siblings outperformed twins who did not, and children with at least 1 opposite-sex sibling outperformed children with only same-sex siblings. Twins performed significantly better when asked about the false beliefs of their twins than they did when asked about the false beliefs of their friends. Results are discussed in terms of potential mechanisms that may account for the twin and sibling effects.
Descriptors: Twins, Cognitive Development, Siblings, Comparative Analysis, Child Development, Beliefs, Theories
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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