THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRETEND LANGUAGE - TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHILDS THEORY OF MIND

It has been suggested that there exists a linkage between the mental r epresentation of pretense, the acquisition of the cognitive internal s tate lexicon, and the development of theory of mind. Using an empirica lly derived taxonomy of pretend language, predictions derivable from s uch a relationship were tested. In three related studies, the pretend lexicons of 4 1/2- to 5-year-old children and the adults who interacte d with them in home and school situations were examined for evidence o f sophisticated pretend language use; for parallels in child and adult pretend language, and for connections between ''pretend'' and other m ental state words. Results did not support the hypothesis that pretens e and the language associated with it were linked to mental state lang uage acquisition. However, the findings that are reported provide conv erging evidence for the claim that pretense in young children is a for m of ''acting-as-if'' behavior rather than a form of mental representa tional activity.