LANGUAGE AND THEORY OF MIND IN DEAF CHILDREN

描述：获得一个成熟的“心理理论”是一个主要的 学龄前的成就。 在大约30岁时发生的变化 四年在三个不同的领域非常重要：认知， 社会理解和语言。 理解其他人 有不同的知识和信仰，这些信仰可以是 真或假是概念理解的重大突破， 代表能力。 现有的研究无法确定是否 语言在这一理论的个体发生中起着关键的因果作用。 考虑到，由于没有人口在测试期间缺乏语言， 关键年份 此外，几乎所有使用的任务都需要语言， 理解这些故事 研究人员建议使用各种 测试错误信念发展的语言和非语言任务 言语深度聋儿童的语言发展 被大大推迟了。 相比之下，学习美国手语的聋哑儿童 语言（ASL）作为第一语言应该正常通过ToM任务 时间表 我们将探讨在聋人中发展心理理论的先决条件。 在不同社会和语言环境中长大的儿童， 与听力对照组相比，3至7年。 研究提出， 具有理论和教育意义。 理论上 该项目将测试三个不同的假设关系， 语言和心理理论的发展。 在教育方面， 理解ToM所需的经验，因为不同的后果 如果一个成熟的心理理论依赖于 掌握一门完整的语言比如果它是一个认知或社会的功能 只有成熟。

DESCRIPTION: The acquisition of a mature "theory of mind" is a major achievement of the preschool years. The changes that occur at around age four years are profoundly important in three separate domains: cognition, social understanding, and language. The understanding that other persons have knowledge and beliefs different one's own and that those beliefs can be true or false is a major breakthrough in conceptual understanding and representational ability. Existing research fails to determine whether language plays a critical causal role in the ontogenesis of this theory of mind, since no population has been tested that lacks language during the critical years. In addition, the tasks used almost all require language for understanding the stories. The investigators propose to use a variety of verbal and nonverbal tasks to test the development of false belief understanding in oral profoundly deaf children, whose language development is significantly delayed. In contrast, deaf children learning American Sign Language (ASL) as a first language should pass ToM tasks on a normal timetable. We will explore the prerequisites for developing a ToM in deaf children raised in different social and linguistic circumstances, aged between 3 and 7 years, compared to hearing controls. The research proposed here has both theoretical and educational significance. Theoretically, the project will test three different hypotheses concerning the relationship of language and ToM development. Educationally, it is of central importance to understand the experiences necessary for a ToM, since different consequences follow for early deaf education if a mature theory of mind depends on mastery of a full language than if it is a function of cognitive or social maturity alone.