幼児の心の理論に関する研究の動向と展望 : 社会的相互作用との関連を取り上げた研究に着目して

In the past 20 years, there has been an explosion of research on the preschoolers' ability to predict and explain human behavior by appealing to mental states. The ability is called as the theory of mind. Much of the empirical research in the area of theory of mind has been on the normative development of preschoolers' theory of mind. Now that there is some consensus on the issue of preschoolers' normative development, many researchers have turned their attention to the question on individual differences in the development of preschoolers' theory of mind. The present review focuses on the studies that consider the relationship between individual differences in the development of the theory of mind and social interactions. I divided the studies into two categories: 1) those that indicate the relationship between individual differences in the development of the theory of mind and social interactions, and 2) those which do not indicate the relationship between individual differences in the development of the theory of mind and social interactions. Directions for further research on the theory of mind are suggested.