# Discrimination of False Response from Object Reality in False Belief Test in Preschool Children

## TL;DR

This study improves the false belief test for preschool children by reducing object and language influences, revealing better understanding of their theory of mind.

## Contribution

The study introduces three alternative false belief tasks that minimize object and language dependencies in assessing theory of mind.

## Key findings

- Children mostly used reality reasoning to identify object locations in standard false belief tasks.
- Removing the object increased correct responses and belief reasoning in children.
- Alternative tasks reduced object interference and provided a more accurate measure of false belief understanding.

## Abstract

The first-order false belief (FB) test is frequently employed to assess theory of mind (ToM); however, it faces substantial criticism regarding its inadequacies. Critics argue that the responses remain binary and are influenced by the presence and location of the object. This study aims to address these criticisms by manipulating an object’s location through three alternative FB tasks, thereby enhancing the understanding of children’s reasoning strategies (reality, belief, or perceptual access reasoning) and offering a language skill-independent measure of ToM. This study involved 150 children aged 3–6 years who were administered standard and three alternative FB tasks along with a receptive vocabulary acquisition test. The findings revealed that children predominantly utilized reality reasoning, identifying the object’s location as the correct response. However, in a condition where the object was physically removed, the percentage of correct responses increased significantly, and the use of belief reasoning increased. While age and language skills were found to be directly correlated with FB performance, the object’s interference with belief reasoning in younger children was reduced. In light of these findings, the three alternative tasks are posited to offer a promising, more accurate measure of FB understanding, independent of the object’s presence and language skill.