Contemporary Perspectives on Research in Theory of Mind in Early Childhood Education

A volume in Contemporary Perspectives in Early Childhood EducationSeries Editor Olivia N. Saracho, University of MarylandOver the last 35 years, studies focusing in young children's knowledge about the mental world havedeveloped into an important area. This body of social knowledge is called theory of mind, which refers to theindividuals' ability to interpret and anticipate the other individuals' thinking, feeling, and behavior based ontheir interpretation of the situation. Many researchers and theorists believe that a representational theory ofmind 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 thisvolume is to share a collection of research strands on theory of mind research. It describes its historical rootsand suggests improved alternatives. The focus of the volume is to provide a review and critical analysis of theliterature 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 theones reviewed in the volume, which offers a thorough critical analysis of the research in contemporary perspectives on research in theory of mind inearly 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 thoseresearchers who are interested in pursuing studies in early childhood theory of mind in a specific area of study.