YOUNG CHILDRENS REPRESENTATIONAL THEORY OF MIND IN UNDERSTANDING MASKED FACIAL EXPRESSION

In this study, development of young children's understandings of maske d facial expression was examined from the, perspective of the developm ent of ''theory of mind''. In Experiment 1, short stories in which one character masks facial expressions to make another character have fal se beliefs were presented to 3-, 4-, and 6-year-old. They were asked q uestions to assess their judgements an various mental states (desire, belief, and intention) of story characters. And, to assess children's ''representational theory of mind'', they performed a ''Smaties Task'' . The results showed that recognition of masked facial expression was developed from 3 to 4 years. Scores on ''Smaties Task'' was also impro ved duing the same period. An additional analysis showed that the majo r determinant of to determine the understanding of masked facial expre ssion was not the age but the possession of ''representational theory of mind''. In Experiment 2 more sophisticated but similar type of proc edures were presented to 3- and 4-year-old children. Results replicate d the results in Experiment 1 and the understanding of the intention o f characters was also Found to develop from 3 to 4 years.