Abstract:

Using data from 19 studies on the relation between language ability and false-belief understanding with a total of 1581 3-6 years children from Chinese mainland, this meta-analysis determined the strength of the relation and examined moderators that may account for the variability across studies—including aspect of language ability assessed, type of false-belief task used. The results indicated a moderate and significant correlation between language ability and false-belief after controlling for age. Further moderator analysis showed that the relationship was not affected by the type of language ability and the measurement of false-belief understanding.

Key words: language, false-belief, meta-analysis, Chinese-speaking children aged 3~6