LANGUAGE AND THEORY OF MIND IN DEAF CHILDREN

描述：获得一个成熟的“心理理论”是一项重要的工作。 学龄前几年的成就。在年龄附近发生的变化 四年的时间在三个不同的领域非常重要：认知， 社会理解和语言。理解到其他人 拥有不同于自己的知识和信念，这些信念可以是 是非是概念性认识的重大突破 表象能力。现有的研究未能确定 语言在这一理论的个体发生中起着关键的因果作用 记住，因为在过去的几年里，没有人接受过缺乏语言的测试 关键的几年。此外，使用的任务几乎都需要语言 理解这些故事。调查人员提议使用各种 测试错误信念发展的言语和非言语任务 重度聋儿口语理解能力与语言发展的关系 被大大推迟了。相比之下，聋哑儿童学习美国手语 作为第一语言的语言(ASL)应该在正常情况下通过TOM任务 时间表。我们将探讨发展聋人心理理论的先决条件。 在不同的社会和语言环境中长大的儿童，年龄 与听力控制相比，在3到7岁之间。这项研究建议 这里既有理论意义，又有教育意义。从理论上讲， 该项目将测试三种不同的假设，涉及 语言与心理理论的发展。在教育方面，这是至关重要的 理解汤姆需要的经历，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它是一种认知或社交功能更重要 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.