Worse Theory of Mind in Only-Children Compared to Children With Siblings and Its Intervention.

The purpose of this study was to explore theory of mind (ToM) differences in children with different birth orders (only-children, first-born children, and second-born children), and further explore the effect of cognitive verb training for only-children's ToM. Adopting the paradigm of false belief, Study 1 was conducted in which a sample of 120 children aged 3-6, including first-born children, second-born children (siblings aged 1-13 years), and only-children were tested. The results showed that (1) children aged 3-6 had significantly higher scores on first-order false-belief than second-order false-belief.

Viewing Fantastical Events in Animated Television Shows: Immediate Effects on Chinese Preschoolers' Executive Function.

Three experiments were conducted to test whether watching an animated show with frequent fantastical events decreased Chinese preschoolers' post-viewing executive function (EF), and to test possible mechanisms of this effect. In all three experiments, children were randomly assigned to watch a video with either frequent or infrequent fantastical events; their EF was immediately assessed after viewing, using behavioral measures of working memory, sustained attention, and cognitive flexibility. Parents completed a questionnaire to assess preschoolers' hyperactivity level as a potential confounding variable.