Title page for ETD etd-11102005-131716

Type of Document

Dissertation

Author

Keskin, Burhanettin

URN

etd-11102005-131716

Title

The Relationship between Theory of Mind, Symbolic Transformations in Pretend Play, and Children’s Social Competence

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Childhood Education, Reading and Disability Services, Department of

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name	Title
Ithel Jones	Committee Chair
Charles Wolfgang	Committee Member
Roxanne Hudson	Committee Member
Vickie Lake	Committee Member
Mary Frances Hanline	Committee Member

Keywords

Theory Of Mind
Symbolic Transformations
Pretend Play
Social Competence

Date of Defense

2005-10-07

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

The relationship between theory of mind, symbolic transformations in pretend play, and children’s social competence was examined. In the within-subjects design, the effects of peer context on children’s symbolic transformations were also explored by observing dyads with similar theory of mind ability and dyads with differing theory of mind ability. Forty-seven children (26 females and 21 males) enrolled in five private preschools participated in the study. The participants’ social skills were measured using the Social Skill Rating Scale (Gresham & Elliott, 1990). Theory of mind was measured using four tasks and the resulting data were used to categorize the students as “high theory of mind” or “low theory of mind.” Children who scored low on the theory of mind tasks were observed during pretend play in two peer contexts, first with a peer who also scored “low” on the theory of mind tasks, and then second, with a peer who scored “high” on the theory of mind tasks. Children’s symbolic transformations during pretend play were measured using Matthews’ (1977) symbolic transformation categories in the order specified by McLoyd (1980). The data were analyzed using repeated measures Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) and correlational analyses.
A significant correlation was found between theory of mind and children’s role play. There were no significant correlations between theory of mind and children’s social competence, and no relationship was found between symbolic transformations in pretend play and social competence. Children who had scored low on the theory of mind tasks were able to engage in more advanced ideational transformations (i.e., role attribution) when they interacted with a child who was more advanced in terms of theory of mind. Peer contexts seem to affect children’s symbolic transformations in pretend play, and role play in particular. The findings suggest that along with peer context, role play, rather than pretend play in general, contributes to the development of a theory of mind. The results are discussed in terms of previous research and theory. Implications of the study for practice, and suggestions for future research were also discussed.

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