Theory of mind in children with developmental language disorder: Developmental tendencies

Abstract

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the complex cognitive ability allowing attribution of mental states to others and understanding that others may have different beliefs, intentions and desires which are different than our own. Developmental language disorder (DLD) is characterized by persistent deficits in the acquisition, comprehension, production or use of language. These children, in addition to language difficulties, may also have a spectrum of cognitive deficits. Research of ToM in DLD children started relatively recently, and the data so far have been quite inconsistent. The aim of our study is to compare ToM abilities and their developmental pattern between DLD and typically developing (TD) children, as well as to investigate potential differences between two main DLD subtypes (expressive and mixed) which differ dominantly regarding to the level of difficulties in language comprehension. The sample consisted of 119 participants aged between five to ten years, divided into two groups, 69 children with DLD and 50 TD children. Sally-Anne false belief task was used as a measure of ToM ability. The results indicate a significant developmental delay of ToM ability in children with DLD with no significant differences between the two DLD types. This indicates that children with DLD have significant difficulties in understanding that actions of others depend on their beliefs rather than simply the real situation itself, as well as that belief and reality often diverge. The results of the research are discussed from two aspects, by comparison with the results of other studies that investigated ToM in DLD children and through the prism of difficulties in social and academic functioning that these children may have. Practical implications are also given, as well as some of the specific techniques that can facilitate the ToM development in children with DLD within the school environment.