Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting.

The study examined the presence and nature of a relationship between 13 early childhood educators' mental state language (MSL) and 77 preschool children's (3- to 5 years) Theory of Mind (ToM). Educator language samples were elicited during two naturalistic group-time contexts, wordless picture book storytelling and an instructional building task. MSL was coded according to a comprehensive scheme that captures facets of MSL content and quality. To account for well-established determinants of ToM, a range of child- and family-level factors were also measured. Results indicated no significant relationship between educator MSL during group level instruction and children's ToM in the preschool setting. Although these findings challenge the assumption that educators' MSL is important for children's ToM development, important future directions are discussed.

Four-Year-Old's Online Versus Face-to-Face Word Learning via eBooks.

Developmental research typically relies on face-to-face testing at laboratories, childcare centers, museums or playgroups. Current social distancing measures have led to a halt in research. Although face-to-face interaction is considered essential for research involving young children, current technology provides viable alternatives. This paper introduces an accessible, replicable and easy to follow method to conduct online developmental research with young children employing a word-learning task as an exemplar, including a detailed workflow and step-by-step guide to using easily accessible programs and platforms. Four-year-old children's (N = 56) performance on a word-learning task delivered online vs. face-to-face is provided as a method validation. Children's performance on the word-learning task was predominantly consistent across delivery modes, with only slight variation in performance between modes. The implications of these similar results across face-to-face and online methods are discussed alongside avenues for further research. Importantly, this paper presents an emerging methodological approach for the online administration of developmental science both within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, adding a new tool to current and future developmental scientist's toolkits.