M. Nielsen et C. Dissanayake, An investigation of pretend play, mental state terms and false belief understanding: In search of a metarepresentational link, BR J DEV PS, 18, 2000, pp. 609-624
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between false beli
ef comprehension, the exhibition of pretend play and the use of mental stat
e terms in pre-school children. Ferry children, aged between 36 and 54 mont
hs were videotaped engaging in free play with each parent. The exhibit-ion
of six distinct acts of pretend play and the expression of 16 mental sr:ate
terms were coded during play. Each child was also administered a pantomime
task and three standard false belief casks. Reliable associations were als
o found between false belief performance and the pretence categories of obj
ect substitution and role assignment, and the exhibition of imaginary objec
t pantomimes. Moreover, the use of mental state terms was positively correl
ated with false belief and the pretence categories of object substitution,
imaginary play and role assignment, and negatively correlated with the exhi
bition of body part object pantomimes. These findings indicate that the dev
elopment of a mental state lexicon and some, bur not all, components of pre
tend play are dependent on the capacity for metarepresentational cognition.