There is a growing recognition in psychosis research of the importance of hallucinations in modalities other than the auditory. This has focused attention on cognitive and neural processes that might be shared by, and which might contribute distinctly to, hallucinations in different modalities. In this article, I address some issues around the modality-generality of cognitive and neural processes in hallucinations, including the role of perceptual and reality-monitoring systems, top-down and bottom-up processes in relation to the psychological and neural substrates of hallucinations, and the phenomenon of simultaneous multimodal hallucinations of the same entity. I suggest that a functional systems approach, inspired by some neglected aspects of the writings of A. R. Luria, can help us to understand patterns of hallucinatory experience across modalities and across clinical and non-clinical groups. Understanding the interplay between modality-general and modality-specific processes may bear fruit for improved diagnosis and therapeutic approaches to dealing with distressing hallucinations.

Maternal elaborative reminiscing supports preschool children's autobiographical memory, self-concept, and emotion understanding. What are the factors contributing to mothers' elaborative style of reminiscing? In a longitudinal community sample (n = 170 at the final data point), this study explored the role of maternal depression (8–44 months), maternal sensitivity and maternal mind-mindedness (8 months), as well as child factors of joint attention (15 months), attachment security (15 months), and language (26 months) for mother–child reminiscing about a positive (happy) and a negative (scared) event at 44 months. Mothers could be classed into two groups of low versus increasing depression from 8 to 44 months, yet maternal depression did not uniquely predict mother–child reminiscing after accounting for maternal sensitivity and other factors. Instead, maternal sensitivity, children's joint attention, and language uniquely predicted children's elaborations about the scared event at 44 months, and maternal sensitivity uniquely predicted mothers' elaborations about the scared event at 44 months. Mothers who are more sensitive in early interactions may later be better at engaging their children when reminiscing about negative emotions. These findings have implications for the design of interventions targeted at supporting mothers to engage in elaborative reminiscing with their preschool children.

Studies 1 and 2 investigated how maternal severe mental illness (SMI) related to mothers’ mind–mindedness (appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments). Study 1 showed that mothers with SMI (n = 50) scored lower than psychologically well mothers for both appropriate and nonattuned comments, whereas mothers with SMI in Study 2 (n = 22) had elevated levels of nonattuned comments. Study 2 also tested the efficacy of a single-session video-feedback intervention to facilitate mind–mindedness in mothers with SMI. The intervention was associated with a decrease in nonattuned comments, such that on discharge, mothers did not differ from psychologically well controls. Study 3 assessed infant–mother attachment security in a small subset of intervention-group mothers from Study 2 (n = 9) and a separate group of standard care mothers (n = 30) at infant mean age 17.1 months (SD = 2.1). Infants whose mothers completed the intervention were more likely to be securely attached and less likely to be classified as insecure–disorganized than those of mothers who received standard care. We conclude that a single session of video-feedback to facilitate mind–mindedness in mothers with SMI may have benefits for mother–infant interaction into the second year of life.

Relations between restricted and repetitive behavior at age 26 months and children's concurrent (N = 203) and later (n = 161) social cognition and language development were investigated. Restricted and repetitive behavior was assessed using two scales: sensory and motor repetitive behaviors and rigidity/routines/restricted interests. Language was assessed at ages 26 and 51 months; social cognition was assessed at ages 26 (symbolic play) and 51 and 61 months (theory of mind). Sensory and motor repetitive behavior was negatively related to children's (a) language performance at 26 and 51 months, (b) instructed symbolic play at 26 months, and (c) theory of mind performance at 51 and 61 months. Path analyses showed that children's sensory and motor repetitive behavior at age 26 months was related to lower receptive verbal ability and theory of mind at 51 months, which led to lower theory of mind at 61 months. Rigidity/routines/restricted interests at 26 months were unrelated to concurrent and later social cognition and language. These results are discussed in terms of the pathways via which sensory and motor repetitive behavior might impact negatively on development.

Private speech (PS) and inner speech (IS) are thought to be functionally important for children's and adults’ cognition, but they have not been studied systematically in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Participants were 21 children with SLI (7–11 years, expressive or receptive verbal IQ ≤ 75, nonverbal IQ ≥ 84) and 21 age- and nonverbal IQ-matched controls. Participants completed three sets of Tower of London problems: one with no dual task (PS condition), one with articulatory suppression, and one while foot tapping (control condition). Participants also completed a digit span task. There was no group difference in the susceptibility of Tower of London performance to articulatory suppression, but the PS of the SLI group was less internalized than that of the controls on both tasks. The findings suggest that children with SLI experience a significant delay in the development of PS/IS, but that their PS/IS is effective for Tower of London performance in middle childhood. Findings are discussed with reference to the interpretation of the nonlinguistic deficits associated with SLI, and in terms of clinical implications.

Inner experience is proposed as a basis for self-interpretation in both children and adults, but young children's inner experience may not be comparable to our own. I consider evidence on children's attribution of inner experience, experience sampling, and the development of inner speech, concluding that Carruthers' theory should predict a developmental lag between mindreading and metacognition.

Two aspects of Tomasello et al.'s account would benefit from further elaboration: (1) the construction of dialogic cognitive representations through social interaction, and (2) the cognitive consequences of operating with such representations. Vygotskian ideas on internalisation and verbal mediation may help us better to understand how dialogic cognitive representations can transform human cognition.

Theory-of-mind (TOM) competence is under-specified in Carpendale & Lewis's (C&L's) account. In the neo-Vygotskian alternative outlined below, TOM development is driven by the internalisation of dialogic exchanges which preserve the triadic intentional relations of interactions within the epistemic triangle. On this view, TOM competence stems from children's ability to operate flexibly with the multiple perspectives manifested in internalised dialogue.

This study investigated predictors of attachment security in a play context using a sample of 71 mothers and their 6-month-old infants. We sought to rethink the concept of maternal sensitivity by focusing on mothers' ability accurately to read the mental states governing infant behaviour. Five categories were devised to assess this ability, four of which were dependent on maternal responses to infant behaviours, such as object-directed activity. The fifth, mothers' Appropriate mind-related comments, assessed individual differences in mothers' proclivity to comment appropriately on their infants' mental states and processes. Higher scores in this fifth category related to a secure attachment relationship at 12 months. Maternal sensitivity and Appropriate mind-related comments were independent predictors of attachment security at 12 months, respectively accounting for 6·5% and 12·7% of its variance. We suggest that these findings are in line with current theorising on internal working models of attachment, and may help to explain security-related differences in mentalising abilities.