Children Talk About the Mind [Paperback]

What, exactly, do children understand about the mind? And when does that understanding first emerge? In this groundbreaking book, Karen Bartsch and Henry Wellman answer these questions and much more by taking a probing look at what children themselves have to tell us about their evolving conceptions of people and their mental lives. By examining more than 200,000 everyday conversations (sampled from ten children between the ages of two and five years), the authors advance a comprehensive naive theory of mind that incorporates both early desire and belief-desire theories to trace childhood development through its several stages. Throughout, the book offers a splendidly written account of extensive original findings and critical new insights that will be eagerly read by students and researchers in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and psycholinguistics.

1. Children, Mind, and Language: An Introduction
2. Language and Mind: Methods
3. Talk About Thoughts and Beliefs
4. Talk About Desires
5. Desires and Beliefs
6. Explanations and Arguments
7. Individual Differences
8. Children's Developing Theory of Mind
9. Alternatives and Controversies
10. Ordinary Talk about Persons and Minds: Questions and Conclusions
References
Index

This is an excellent--probably the most important--publication in the field this year. --John Flavell, Stanford University

It is an important achievement that cannot help but influence research and theory in developmental psychology and educational practice for years to come. --Lois Bloom, Teachers College, Columbia University