Research On The Development Of Primary School Children's Theory Of Mind, Cooperation, Machiavellianism And Their Relationship

In recent years, the researchers pay more attention to the development of children's theory of mind (ToM). Theory of mind plays an important role in the daily life. There is close relationship between the development of theory of mind and morality, sociality, communication. Theory of mind works on social interaction. This paper intends to explore the development of primary school children's theory of mind,cooperation, Machiavellianism and their relationship.A comprehensive literature review is made on the important empirical findings in the present study. On the basis of analysis on previous studies, four studies were present.Study 1 administered the ToM Task (including the Faux Pas Task, the White Lie Task, and the Story Comprehension) and investigated the development of 90 primary school children's (30 in grade 2, 30 in grade 4, 30 in grade 6) ability of theory of mind. The major findings were as follows:First, overall, the primary school children's ability of theory of mind developed apparently with age, and different development trajectory were found in the faux pas task, the white lie task and the story comprehension. The development of the story comprehension was better than the faux pas task and the white lie task. Second, it was more difficult in understanding emotion and intention than cognitive mentation, social cognition and social perception developed differently. Third, there was no significant difference between the male and female in the development of theory of mind. In Study 2, we used adjusted prisoner's dilemma game to measure primary school children's cooperation. The results showed:First, the primary school children's cooperation developed apparently with age. Second, there was no significant difference between the male and female in the development of cooperation.In Study 3, we used Kiddie Mach to explore the primary school children's. Machiavellianism. The results showed:First, there was no significant age difference in the development of Machiavellianism. Second, there was no significant difference between the male and female in the development of Machiavellianism.In Study 4, we utilized many ways (for example, correlation, regress) to analyze relationship among theory of mind, cooperation, Machiavellianism. The results showed: First, there was a significant positive correlation between theory of mind and cooperation. The cooperation of high ToM group was better than low ToM group.Theory of mind could explain 8.4% cooperation. Second, there was not a correlation between Machiavellianism and theory of mind. Third, there was a significant negative correlation between cooperation and Machiavellianism. High Machiavellianism group's cooperation degree was lower than low Machiavellianism group.