Abstract: Previous evidences suggested the acquisition and development of theory of mind (ToM) was cultural-universal as well as cultural-specific. To explore influential factors of children’s ToM development, additional researchers begin to focus on the effect of social communication. As a part of children’s early social communication, communications between parents and children were correlated to children’s TOM acquisition and development. This paper reviewed the cultural differences between Chinese and Western families in parent-child talk and children’s episodic memory, and its relations with children’s ToM to understand cultural specificity of Chinese children’s ToM acquisition and development. Finally, the paper referred to key issues in current and research trends in future.

Key words: parent-child communication, theory of mind, cultural specificity, parent-child talk, episodic memory