ABSTRACT Being connected to other people at the level of inner and unobservable mental states is one of the most essential aspects of a meaningful life, including psychological well-being and successful cooperation. The foundation for this kind of connectedness is our theory of mind (ToM), that is the ability to understand our own and others’ inner experiences in terms of mental states such as beliefs and desires. But how do we develop this ability? Forty-six 17- to 107-months-old children completed a non-verbal eye-tracker false-belief task. There were 9 signing deaf children from deaf families and two comparison groups, that is 13 deaf children with cochlear implants and 24 typically developing hearing children. We show that typically developing hearing children and deaf children from deaf families, but not deaf children with cochlear implants, succeeded on a non-verbal eye-tracking ToM task. The findings suggest that the ability to recognize others’ mental states is supported by very early, continuous and fluent language-based communication with caregivers.

中文翻译：

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语言优先：聋人家庭的聋孩子会自发地预测错误的信念

摘要在内在和不可观察的心理状态层面与他人建立联系是有意义生活最重要的方面之一，包括心理健康和成功合作。这种联系的基础是我们的心理理论 (ToM)，即根据信念和欲望等心理状态来理解我们自己和他人的内在体验的能力。但是我们如何培养这种能力呢？46 名 17 至 107 个月大的儿童完成了一项非语言眼动仪错误信念任务。聋哑家庭手语聋儿童9名，对照组13名，其中植入人工耳蜗的聋童13名，听力正常发育儿童24名。我们表明，通常发育听力儿童和聋哑家庭的聋儿，但不是植入人工耳蜗的聋儿，成功完成了一项非语言眼动追踪 ToM 任务。研究结果表明，与护理人员进行早期、持续和流畅的基于语言的交流支持识别他人心理状态的能力。