Language and Theory of Mind in Children with Hearing Impairment-A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to understand another person’s mind. Presence of a sound ToM is necessary for a mature understanding of all social situations and relationships. A poor or an absence of ToM in an individual can lead to a breakdown in communication. Language is an important tool by which ToM skills are expressed and thus used. Children with hearing impairment (HI) represent a group who show a delay in the development of ToM. The present study investigated ToM abilities in children with HI. The study involved 10 typically developing children as the comparison group and 10 children with HI as the clinical group. The Theory of Mind Scale (Wellman & Liu, 2004) was administered on all the children. The performance of the children with HI did not match the comparison group children, despite being matched for their language age. The mothers of the children with hearing impairment reported lack of or minimal use of mental state language while conversing with their children. The acquisition of ToM, it may be said then, is not just governed by language age, as generally accepted, but it is a result of language age, hearing age, chronological age as well as the use of higher mental state language during conversations with the child. It is recommended that the use of mental state language must be included as a part of the prescribed aural habilitation program.