The metarepresentational aspect of early pretend play (make-believe activities where children create or participate in creating a new situation different from a real one) has been theoretically debated. In the present longitudinal study of N = 83 children, we tested for predictive relations of shared attention at 12–18 months, implicit false belief (FB) at 18 months, and pretend production at 18 months, as well as comprehension at 24 months. We also tested for long-term predictive relations of pretense production and comprehension with theory of mind (ToM) at the age of 4–5 years. Only pretense production directed toward others (but not self) was specifically related to infancy measures of shared attention. Early pretense, either production or comprehension, was not related to implicit FB or later ToM measures. The findings are discussed in terms of different theoretical accounts of early pretense.

从理论上讲，早期假装游戏（使孩子创造或参与创造与真实情况不同的新情况的虚假活动）的元表征表现方面已受到争论。在目前对N的纵向研究中= 83名儿童，我们测试了12-18个月时的注意力共享的预测关系，18个月时的隐性错误信念（FB），18个月时假装生产以及24个月时的理解力。我们还测试了4-5岁年龄时假装产生和理解与心理理论（ToM）的长期预测关系。只有针对他人（而不是针对自己）的假装与婴儿共同关注的措施特别相关。早期的假装，无论是生产还是理解，都与隐性FB或后来的ToM措施无关。我们根据不同的假装理论对这些发现进行了讨论。