Executive functions and performance on false belief tasks

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess whether performance on false belief tasks was dependent on particular components of executive functions, specifically inhibitory control and working memory. Ten children with Prader‐Willi syndrome and 14 children with Williams syndrome were given 2 trials of a standard false belief task and 2 executive function tasks. These included Luria's (1966) tapping task, and a modified Stroop task, developed by Diamond and her colleagues (Gerstadt, Hong, & Diamond, 1994). The main findings were that performance on the 2 executive function tasks was quite consistent, although some children had difficulty training on the tapping task. In contrast, there appeared to be no relation between performance on executive function tasks and false belief. These findings are discussed in the context of current theories about the development of theory of mind.