The DOI matches its Crossref record; 90 of the 91 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Executive function and theory of mind. Predictive relations from ages 2 to 4
Abstract
Despite robust associations between children's theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) skills, longitudinal studies examining this association remain scarce. In a socially diverse sample of 122 children (seen at ages 2, 3, and 4), this study examined (a) developmental stability of associations between ToM, EF, verbal ability, and social disadvantage; (b) continuity and change in ToM and EF; and (c) predictive relations between ToM and EF. Verbal ability and social disadvantage independently predicted changes in EF (but not ToM). Task scores improved with age and showed stable individual differences. The authors examined predictive relations between ToM and EF using partial correlations (controlling for age and verbal ability) and hierarchical regressions (that also controlled for social disadvantage and initial ToM and EF). The findings provide only partial support for the view that ToM is a prerequisite for EF but stronger support for the proposal that EF facilitates children's performance on ToM tasks.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“A large body of evidence supports the associations between the EF and ToM in typical development”
From Social Cognition in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Associations with Executive Functions (2017) · cites this paper as Hughes and Ensor, 2007
Citations
Cites
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1983) · Cited by 79,882
An inventory for measuring depression
BECK, A. T. (1961) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004 · Cited by 38,032
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. B
Press, H. (1886) · Cited by 10,087
Wimmer, H. (1983) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/0010-0277(83)90004-5 · Cited by 6,305
Socioeconomic status and child development
Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2002) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135233 · Cited by 5,484
Meta-Analysis of Theory-of-Mind Development: The Truth about False Belief
Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00304 · Cited by 4,476
Specific impairments of planning
Shallice, T. (1982) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.1982.0082 · Cited by 3,741
Higher cortical functions in man
Lurii︠a︡, A. R., Teuber, H., Pribram, K. H., & Haigh, B. (1966) · Basic Books · Cited by 2,858
Individual Differences in Inhibitory Control and Children's Theory of Mind
Carlson, S. M., & Moses, L. J. (2001) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00333 · Cited by 2,072
Antecedents of self-regulation: A developmental perspective.
Kopp, C. B. (1982) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.18.2.199 · Cited by 2,046
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 401–450 of 450
Infants in Control: Prospective Motor Control and Executive Functions in Action DevelopmentPreprint
Gottwald, J. M. (2018) · Thesis Commons (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31237/osf.io/w8suh
Stephens, R. L. (2019) · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · doi:10.17615/5y88-3g37
The Development of a Thin Slice Methodology for Coding Scaffolding between Siblings
Prime, H. (2012) · TSpace (University of Toronto)
Kanzaki, N., Kubota, K., & Nakagawa, A. (2018) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2018.00006
Hill, M. (2017) · MOspace Institutional Repository (University of Missouri) · doi:10.32469/10355/63656
Planning to save and executive function in preschool children
Connolly, K. (2012) · Carleton University's Institutional Repository (MacOdrum Library, Carleton University) · doi:10.22215/etd/2012-07144
Hammad, M. A. (2017) · Journal of Educational & Psychological Sciences · doi:10.12785/jeps/180420
The influence of gesture and early language on the emergence of executive function during childhood
Kuhn, L. (2019) · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · doi:10.17615/pbeh-2z77
The relation between shifting and reading comprehension in grade 3 students
Padua, L. A. (2018) · UVic’s Research and Learning Repository (University of Victoria)
A study of inhibition in preschool children at risk of Developmental Language Disorder
Thomas, S. A. (2020) · University of Hertfordshire Research Archive (University of Hertfordshire) · doi:10.18745/th.23062
Cumulative Relational Risk and Preschool Academic Success, Links with Socioemotional Competence
Somir, I. (2019) · TSpace (University of Toronto)
Las habilidades mentalistas en la infancia
Romanazzi, M. J. (2020) · El Servicio de Difusión de la Creación Intelectual (National University of La Plata) · doi:10.35537/10915/125187
(2016) · Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development · doi:10.1111/mono.12274
(2014) · Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development · doi:10.1002/mono.12104
Peloquin, C. M. (2021) · Open Access Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka (Figshare) · doi:10.26686/wgtn.14515308.v1
Davis, A. S., Bernat, D. J., & Shetter, M. D. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-93947-2_3
(2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-804417-9.16001-6
AVALIAÇÃO NEUROPSICOLÓGICA DAS FUNÇÕES EXECUTIVAS DE PRÉ-ESCOLARES
OLIVEIRA, M. C. V. D. (2018) · doi:10.17771/pucrio.acad.35072
On Predicting and Being Predicted: Navigating Life in a Competitive Landscape Full of Mind Readers
Ybarra, O., Morrison, K. R., Keller, M. C., Michalak, N. M., Wang, I., & Chan, T. (2022) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190060800.013.15
郑, 荣. (2022) · Advances in Psychology · doi:10.12677/ap.2022.125229
Jogos Digitais como Mediadores da Estimulação das Funções Executivas no Contexto Escolar
de Cerqueira, B. B., Barbosa, D. N. F., & Mossmann, J. B. (2021) · Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames) · doi:10.5753/sbgames_estendido.2021.19754
de Cerqueira, B. B., Barbosa, D. N. F., & Mossmann, J. B. (2023) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-27639-2_9
The Development of Mental Capacity in Preschool Children with regard to the Theory of Mind
Hasan, F. (2023) · Qalaai Zanist Scientific Journal · doi:10.25212/lfu.qzj.8.2.12
Ječmenica, N., Drljan, B., & Buha, N. S. (2023) · Research in Pedagogy · doi:10.5937/istrped2301098j
Actas del I Congreso Internacional de Educación y Diversidad
Quílez-Robres, A. (2024) · Universidad de Zaragoza eBooks · doi:10.26754/uz.actas_educa_diversidad_2024 · Cited by 1
Yi, L., Jiang, R., Lin, S., Hu, S., & Li, X. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4835170
Executive Functioning Processes in Simple and Complex Theory of Mind Tasks
Shamji, J. F. (2022) · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · doi:10.12794/metadc1985747
Sobel, D. M., Kamper, D. G., & Song, J. (2025) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2025.101580
Executive Functions in Childhood
Miller, S. A. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0331
Theory of Mind and Academic Competence During Early Childhood
Lagattuta, K. H., Lara, K. H., & Kennedy, K. (2013) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-62396-513-620251017
Carroll, A. (2013) · UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia)
Franco-O´Byrne, D., Ortiz, T. A. C., & Huepe, D. (2026) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-026-04315-w
Moreau, N. (2015) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/a7613071ze510z43d2z9da9za07753710845
Kim, J., Bendel‐Stenzel, L. C., & Kochanska, G. (2026) · Attachment & Human Development · doi:10.1080/14616734.2026.2655283 · Cited by 1
Suppressing reality: negative priming exposes belief inhibition in adult false belief tasks
Li, Y., Jiang, R., Lin, S., Hu, S., & Li, X. (2026) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-026-09402-0
Houdayer, J., Stanc, L. L., Rémeau, M., de Carvalho, A., Houdé, O., Bardi, L., & Borst, G. (2026) · Trends in Neuroscience and Education · doi:10.1016/j.tine.2026.100286
Xie, T., An, D., Liu, Y., Li, X., Xu, Y., Wang, X., & Zhou, W. (2026) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/21582440261459731
Cognitive Assessment in Children
Černja, I., Babarović, T., & Dević, I. (2026) · Springer series on child and family studies · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-30592-3_6
Pragmatics and Social Cognition in Learning and Remembering Words
Trice, K. M., Saratsli, D., Anna Papafragou, A., & Qi, Z. (2026) · Open Mind · doi:10.1162/opmi.a.383
A Bat is Not a Bird: Infants’ Use of Distinct Labels to Guide Inductive Reasoning
Switzer, J. L. (2015) · Libraries and Cultural Resources (University of Calgary) · doi:10.11575/prism/24630
Metadata
- Authors
- Hughes, C., & Ensor, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- ORCID
- Hughes, Claire
- Venue
- Developmental Psychology
- Published
- 2007
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1447-1459
- ISSN
- 0012-1649 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-0599
- OpenAlex
- W2049126844
- Cited by
- 453
- References
- 91
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 18.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (RES-000-23-1371)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Keywords
- executive function, theory of mind, verbal ability, social deprivation, developmental stability, continuity and change, individual differences, social cognition, cognitive development
- MeSH terms
- Analysis of Variance, Psychology, Child, Child, Preschool, Family, Humans, Language, Leadership, Predictive Value of Tests, Psychological Tests, Socioeconomic Factors, Speech, Thinking
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review