A crucial part of the foundations of language development is the understanding that other people have mental states: thoughts, beliefs, knowledge, and desires. These mental states motivate behavior and can be discovered through the medium of language. In fact, it is possible that a complete understanding of mental states is only possible by way of language. This understanding of the mental states of oneself and others is referred to as “theory of mind.” Decades of research have shown that language and theory of mind are intertwined, but the specific cause and effect relationships are not yet fully understood. I have contributed to this area of research by investigating theory of mind performance in children with SLI. There are still surprisingly few studies that have taken this approach. More recently, I have begun to investigate the relations among language, theory of mind, and executive functions in typically developing preschoolers, with a goal of explaining how these abilities influence one another. My ultimate goal is to develop interventions that will promote development in all three areas for children with SLI and others at risk for language and/or academic difficulties.
at The Pennsylvania State University