Neural correlates of belief- and desire-reasoning in 7- and 8-year-old children: an event-related potential study.
Dev Sci
; 15(5): 618-32, 2012 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22925510
ABSTRACT
Theory of mind requires belief- and desire-understanding. Event-related brain potential (ERP) research on belief- and desire-reasoning in adults found mid-frontal activations for both desires and beliefs, and selective right-posterior activations only for beliefs. Developmentally, children understand desires before beliefs; thus, a critical question concerns whether neural specialization for belief-reasoning exists in childhood or develops later. Neural activity was recorded as 7- and 8-year-olds (N = 18) performed the same diverse-desires, diverse-beliefs, and physical control tasks used in a previous adult ERP study. Like adults, mid-frontal scalp activations were found for belief- and desire-reasoning. Moreover, analyses using correct trials alone yielded selective right-posterior activations for belief-reasoning. Results suggest developmental links between increasingly accurate understanding of complex mental states and neural specialization supporting this understanding.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Encéfalo
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Cognição
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Potenciais Evocados
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Ondas Encefálicas
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Motivação
Limite:
Child
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article