ABSTRACT
An increasing amount of research has examined the interface between language and the development of a theory of mind. As noted by Astington and Jenkins (1999), several researchers have reported correlations between language and theory of mind development (see, e.g., Cutting & Dunn, 1999; Jenkins & Astington, 1996), but how to explain such correlations is poorly understood. One way to think about this interface has been to suggest that theory of mind development depends on language. Although several interesting proposals exist arguing for the role of language in theory of mind development, there has been surprisingly little discussion of the relationship between such proposals. In this chapter, I begin with a review of some critical differences in how language is understood and the methodological implications of adopting one or another perspective toward language. In clarifying such differences I also highlight some distinctions in the ways language is said to contribute to theory of mind development.
