A volume in Contemporary Perspectives in Early Childhood Education
Series Editor Olivia N. Saracho, University of Maryland Over the last 35
years, studies focusing in young children's knowledge about the mental
world have developed into an important area. This body of social
knowledge is called theory of mind, which refers to the individuals'
ability to interpret and anticipate the other individuals' thinking,
feeling, and behavior based on their interpretation of the situation.
Many researchers and theorists believe that a representational theory of
mind offers a basis for various critical facets of social-cognitive
performance, such as teaching and learning, lying and pretending, making
and keeping friends, and social learning more generally. The purpose of
this volume is to share a collection of research strands on theory of
mind research. It describes its historical roots and suggests improved
alternatives. The focus of the volume is to provide a review and
critical analysis of the literature on a contemporary domain of
knowledge on young children's Theory of Mind. For several decades
scholarly research on theory of mind has been flourishing and a
collection of new publication outlets have emerged such as the ones
reviewed in the volume, which offers a thorough critical analysis of the
research in contemporary perspectives on research in theory of mind in
early childhood education. The researchers who conducted the critical
analyses of the reseearch focused on understanding the mind in relation
to (1) young children, (2) several assessment procedures, (3)
metacognitive and neuroscientific processes, (3) emotion and educational
representations, (4) interaction of social and cultural elements, and
(5) inferences and future research directions. The work of these
scholars can help guide those researchers who are interested in pursuing
studies in early childhood theory of mind in a specific area of study.
