Children's early use of mental verbs and what they mean

Bibliographic Data

ID11274196
AuthorsHenry M Wellman (0000-0001-6745-6959, University of Michigan, corresponding author), David Este (0000-0002-9596-0375, University of Michigan), David Estes
Year1987
Volume10
Issue2
Pages141-156
Publication date1987-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Processes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-853X • E-ISSN: 1532-6950
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01638538709544666
OpenAlexW1985337003
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited17

Sometime between 2 and 3 years of age, children begin to use mental terms, for example, think, in their speech. A series of naturalistic studies and experiments sought to determine if young children are using mental terms to refer to the mental world, that is, are they making explicit reference to beliefs, ideas, thoughts, and intentions? Naturalistic observations revealed that the first uses of mental terms are for conversational functions and this use begins in the last half of the third year. Experimental investigations confirmed that children between the ages of 3 and 5 correctly distinguish real and mental items and correctly judged that they could think and dream of nonexistent, not‐real things. These findings, that mental terms are used by children for distinct, explicit mental reference almost as soon as the terms are used, suggest that theories of semantic and conceptual development which portray early development as perceptual, concrete, sensory, and external need to be re‐examined

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Developmental psychology · Dream · Epistemology · Mental age · Mental model · Mental representation · Naturalism · Naturalistic observation · Perception · Psychotherapist · Theory of mind · Child and Animal Learning Development · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · Language Development and Disorders · Psychology · Social Psychology

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