The Development of Social Understanding and Future-Oriented Thinking in Preschool Children: The Role of Social and Cognitive Correlates

The research project aims to investigate the development of social understanding skills, with particular reference to Theory of Mind, and future-oriented thinking in preschool children aged 3 to 5 years. To this end, the project will examine the role of various social and cognitive correlates potentially involved in the development of these competencies. Specifically, the relationships between these abilities and children’s executive functions will be investigated, and particular attention will be paid to the role of parental behaviors and practices in promoting their development. The study will assess these abilities in children through direct performance-based measures administered to the children, as well as through self-report and parent-report questionnaires administered to parents to assess both children’s competencies and parental behaviors