Theory of mind and school achievement: the mediating role of social competence

Recent findings have highlighted the importance of children's social understanding – specifically their reasoning about beliefs and emotions – for school achievement. However, little is known about the processes that may account for such a relationship. In this longitudinal study we examined the role of children's social competence (as indexed by peer relationships and social skills), using a multi-informant and multi-indicator approach. We followed 73 children during the transition to primary school, gathering data at three time points: Time 1 (age 5), Time 2 (age 7) and Time 3 (age 8). Structural equation modelling showed that Time 1 social understanding predicted Time 2 social competence, which in turn predicted Time 3 school achievement, independently of verbal ability. Moreover, social competence mediated the relationship between early social understanding and later school achievement. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed

Cognizione ed emozione nelle valutazioni etiche: processi, scelte comportamentali, implicazioni sociali

Attraverso una rassegna di una serie di ricerche internazionali, si rilevano i limiti dell’approccio cognitivo classico al tema del giudizio morale; si indica l’importanza dei fattori emozionali e di alcuni aspetti neuropsicologici per la migliore comprensione del tema per spiegare i dati sulle discontinuità fra giudizio e comportamento. La nuova prospettiva permette l’applicazione ai comportamenti in campo sociale ed economico, così come testimoniato da alcuni studi recenti, e rende la ricerca sperimentale sul giudizio morale di grande rilevanza sia teorica che pratica