Investigating the Role of Heredity and Environmental Factors in the Development of Cognitive and Affective Dimensions of the Theory of Mind by Comparing Ordinary 4-6-Year-Old Children, Identical and Non-Identical Twins and Orphaned Children

Subject Areas : Psychological Models and Methods

Maryam Sedighi ¹ , Majid Barzegar ² , Maryam Kouroshnia ³ , Ghasem naziri ⁴

1 - Ph.D. Student of Educational Psychology, Department of Psychology, Marv.C., Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Marv.C., Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Marv.C., Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran
4 - Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Shir.C., Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

Received: 2023-07-24 Accepted : 2024-04-22 Published : 2024-04-22

Keywords: Theory of mind, Identical and non-identical twins, orphaned children, Heredity factor, Environment factor ,

Abstract :

Background and purpose: The present study aimed to compare the growth of cognitive and affective dimensions of the theory of mind between normal children, identical and non-identical twins with children in orphanages to determine to what extent this growth is influenced by the heredity factor and to what extent it is influenced by the environmental factor.

Methods: In this causal-comparative study, the performance of 96 four to six-year-old children who were selected based on convenience sampling were compared in cognitive and affective theory of mind tasks. Verbal skills as a moderating variable in the development of theory of mind were measured with the help of two verbal subscales of the Wechsler IQ test for children, but the data were controlled through covariance analysis.

Findings: The findings indicated that there was no significant difference in the theory of mind between children who were raised in their own families (both twins and normal children) and children in institutions. There was no significant difference in the cognitive dimension of theory of mind between identical twins, non-identical twins and normal children and there was a significant difference in the affective dimension of theory of mind between identical twins and both non-identical twins and normal children.

Conclusion: The results supported that compared to the heredity factor, the environment has a weaker role in the development of children's theory of mind if the effect of verbal development is removed.

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