a slightly earlier age than other children. Furthermore, because young children
are more likely to talk about their thoughts and feelings with peers than with their mothers, peer interaction
may provide a special impetus to the development of a TOM. A similar point has been made by Dunn, who
argues that peer interaction is more likely to contain pretend play and that it is likely to be more challenging
because other children, unlike adults, do not makelarge adaptations to the communicative needs of other
children.
G. In addition, there has been concern that some aspects of the TOM approach
underestimate
children’s understanding of other people. After all infants will
point to objects apparently in an effort to
change a person’s direction of gaze
and interest; they can interact quite effectively with other people; they
will
express their ideas in opposition to the wishes of others; and they will show
empathy for the feeling of
others. Schatz studied the spontaneous speech of
three-year-olds and found that these children used mental
terms and used
them in circumstances where there was a contrast between, for example, not
being sure
where an object was located and finding it, or between pretending
and reality. Thus the social abilities of
children indicate that they are aware of
the difference between mental states and external reality at ages
younger than
four.
H. A different explanation has been put forward by Harris. He proposed that
children use
‘simulation’. This involves putting yourself in the other person’s
