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How Chronological Age, Theory of Mind, and Yield are Interrelated to Memory and Suggestion in Young Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2022

Nieves Pérez-Mata Open the ORCID record for Nieves Pérez-Mata [Opens in a new window] ,
Amparo Moreno Open the ORCID record for Amparo Moreno [Opens in a new window] ,
Margarita Diges Open the ORCID record for Margarita Diges [Opens in a new window]  and
Miriam Peláez Open the ORCID record for Miriam Peláez [Opens in a new window]
Nieves Pérez-Mata*
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Amparo Moreno
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Margarita Diges
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Miriam Peláez
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Nieves Pérez-Mata. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Facultad de Psicología. Departamento de Psicología Básica. Calle Iván Pavlov, No. 6, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco. 28049 Madrid (Spain). E-mail: nieves.perez@uam.es
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Abstract

We investigated the interrelations between chronological age, theory of mind (ToM), Yield (as a measure of individual suggestibility), memory and acceptance of experimental suggestion in a sample of children between 3 and 7 years old (N = 106). One week after participants interacted with ‘a Teacher’, they were asked to recall activities carried out with the Teacher (direct experience) and the contents of a story read to them by the Teacher (indirect experience). Data were examined with an analysis of developmental trajectories, which allows establishing the predictor value of socio-cognitive developmental factors regardless of participants’ chronological age. It also estimates predictor values in interaction with the age and determines whether age is the best predictor for performance. As in previous research, results showed that chronological age was the main predictor of memory performance, both for direct experience (i.e., activities performed) and indirect experience (i.e., contents of the story). However, ToM and Yield, together with participants’ ages, modulated their acceptance of the external suggestions received (presented only once, one week after the event). A turning point was observed at age 4.6. Below this age, the greater the mentalist skills (higher ToM), the lower was the vulnerability to external suggestion. Still, children below this age characterized individually as being suggestible (Yield medium or high) were more vulnerable to suggestion the younger they were. Thus, developmental socio-cognitive factors might modulate young children’s vulnerability to external suggestions, even if received only once.

Keywords

analysis of developmental trajectorieschronological agememorysuggestibilitytheory of mind
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 25 , 2022 , e26
Copyright
© Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2022

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Footnotes

The authors thank Soledad Herrera, María López Rodil and Nuria Malibrán for their help in the collecting and coding the data; Karina Solcoff assisted in the preparation of the material. We also thank Dr. Pilar Aivar for her suggestions and comments prior to submission. Finally, special thanks to parents, children and school staff of the two schools - C. E. I. P. Vicente Aleixandre in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) and E. I. Bärber Inhelder in Madrid - who participated in the present study.

Conflicts of interest: None.

Funding statement: This work was supported by the Transfer Knowledge Project 088501–FUAM (Foundation of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) co-directed by the first and third authors, and the National Research SEJ2004–07655 financed by Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica (DGICYT).

Data Sharing: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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