Both theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning have been related to children's academic abilities. In a longitudinal study with 112 children, we investigated the influence of these two abilities on children's math and reading performance at 7 years of age. We found that math performance was predicted by concurrent working memory as well as by preschool numerical abilities and ToM. Reading performance was predicted by concurrent working memory and verbal IQ at 6 years. This corroborates earlier research demonstrating the importance of executive functioning (working memory) and ToM for later academic abilities. We argue that ToM may be an important developmental precursor of math performance because both require an understanding of representations.

中文翻译：

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心理理论和执行功能对数学和阅读能力的影响：一项纵向研究

心智理论 (ToM) 和执行功能都与儿童的学业能力有关。在对 112 名儿童进行的纵向研究中，我们调查了这两种能力对儿童 7 岁时数学和阅读成绩的影响。我们发现数学成绩是由并发工作记忆以及学前数字能力和 ToM 预测的。6 岁时的阅读表现由并发工作记忆和语言智商预测。这证实了早期的研究表明执行功能（工作记忆）和 ToM 对以后的学术能力的重要性。我们认为 ToM 可能是数学表现的重要发展先驱，因为两者都需要理解表征。