Theory of Mind Development in Ghanaian Children

Extensive research on theory of mind (ToM), the understanding that someone can have thoughts, beliefs, and desires that are different to one’s own, has been conducted. The false-belief task is generally passed around 4 to 5 years of age and serves as the traditional and most widely-used method for assessing ToM development. Meta-analyses of 178 separately reported studies showed that while children from various countries performed somewhat better or somewhat worse, all countries exhibited the same developmental trajectory. False-belief understanding has been examined among both non-Western and Western children; however, most non-Western studies have been conducted in Asian or South American countries, with only one commonly-known study examining this ability in African children. The present study tested 40 children in early primary education in Ghana on three variations of the false-belief task. The majority of children passed at least two of the three tasks. When comparing two tasks both Ghanaian and Scottish children completed, the two countries had similar percent correct rates; however, the Ghanaian children were significantly older than the Scottish children, implying that Ghanaians develop this understanding at a later age, perhaps due to schooling differences between the two educational systems. Limitations regarding data collection among the Ghana children are also discussed.