Stepping Stones to Others’ Minds: Maternal Talk Relates to Child Mental State Language and Emotion Understanding at 15, 24, and 33 Months
This continuation of a previous study (Taumoepeau & Ruffman, 2006) examined the longitudinal relation between maternal mental state talk to 15- and 24-month-olds and their later mental state language and emotion understanding (N= 74). The previous study found that maternal talk about the child’s desires to 15-month-old children uniquely predicted children’s mental state language and emotion task performance at 24 months. In the present study, at 24 months of age, mothers’ reference to others’ thoughts and knowledge was the most consistent predictor of children’s later mental state language at 33 months. Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development provides a framework within which maternal talk, first, about the child’s desires and then about others’ thoughts and knowledge scaffolds children’s social understanding.
Teenagers in England are to be vaccinated against meningitis W after a worrying rise in the incidence of meningococcal group W disease since 2009. ::: ::: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended that a vaccination programme for 14-18 year olds should be implemented as soon as possible, to generate herd protection against meningitis W for the rest of the population. The independent advisory committee said, “Levels of disease were consistent with an outbreak situation, with cases and deaths occurring in all age ranges, constituting a public health emergency.” ::: ::: The Department of Health for England has accepted the advice and …