Principal Investigator: dr hab. Marta Białecka-Pikul, prof. UJ

Objective Realisation of this project will allow two fundamental goals to be achieved. Firstly, it will be possible to describe the trajectory of development and stages of changes in theory of mind in children between 5 and a half and 7 and a half years of age, i.e. so-called advanced theory of mind. Secondly, the research will enable us to discover the communicative, cognitive and linguistic predictors of stability and continuity of theory of mind in this period of development. In other words, it will be one of the first longitudinal study in the world in which individual differences in theory of mind and their stability over time as well as the dimension of continuity-change in terms of the competences defined as theory of mind will be tested in children aged over 4 (after gaining the ability to understand false beliefs). The theoretical framework of the project will be interactive-communicative views of theory of mind (Carpendale and Lewis, 2006; Tomasello, 2014) and the premises of researchers on pragmatics (Levinson, 2000; Matthews, 2014), who accentuate the need for analysis of social cognition through study of social interaction (De Jeagheret et al., 2010; Levinson, 2006). It is therefore assumed that above all interactive-communicative predictors will mostly explain the change in theory of mind development. Method used The planned research will not only comprise longitudinal studies, but will also constitute the continuation of a research project (Białecka-Pikul et al., 2010; Białek et al., 2014), in which the manifestations of early competences in theory of mind were tested in over 300 children in six measurements, at the ages of 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 42 months. Again, on three occasions – this time at age 5 and a half, 6 and a half and 7 and a half – the same group of children will be tested. Additionally – the project’s second objective – a reliable study of the predictors of theory of mind development, regarded as all the factors with an effect on its development, can only be achieved in longitudinal research. Four groups of variables can be identified in the planned research project: advanced theory of mind, as well as cognitive, linguistic and interactive-communicative competences. To test advanced theory of mind, we will use techniques so far employed only in experimental studies (e.g. homonym test, metaphor comprehension test) and our own techniques (e.g. reflection on thinking test). Testing cognitive competences will mean using techniques to measure executive function (e.g. working memory) as well as intelligence. It will be possible to measure language competences thanks to such tools as the Language Development Test (Smoczyńska et al., 2015). Interactive communicative competences, on the other hand, will be assessed using techniques of eyetracking during specially developed tests to test a child’s behaviours in interactions with peers and adults (e.g. Psaltis and Zapiti, 2014) as well as on the basis of data from questionnaires completed by parents. The results obtained will undergo detailed statistical analysis, in such procedures as: multivariate regression, moderation and mediation, modelling of structural equations (e.g. models of growth in subgroups) and Bayesian statistics. Each stage of the research will be preceded by a pilot study stage, in order to assess the quality of the techniques used. Employing numerous tools for measuring theory of mind will make it possible to ensure invariance of the consecutive measurements. Effects of the expected results on development of science, civilisation, society Owing to the innovative nature of the research – and in particular its longitudinal character and the age group covered, as well as the fact that it constitutes the continuation of earlier studies, the presented project is unique on an international scale. The results obtained in its course will be a very important complement to the existing state of knowledge on the development of theory of mind and its determinants. Analysis of the data collected in the project and the possibility of adding to the results obtained in earlier measurements of the same children will make it possible to create an advanced model to explain the acquisition of competences that is theory of mind. It is particularly important that this will be a model deriving from the premises of the interactive-communicative approach, which to date have not been developed in research on children in middle childhood. In the course of the project, new tools and adaptations of the techniques used in the world for measuring all the variables studied will be prepared. The knowledge provided by the research on development of social cognition in middle childhood will make an important contribution to future analyses in the field of intervention and educational studies based on child development research.