For the first time a representative Theory of Mind (ToM) scale (Wellman &amp / Liu, 2004) has been cast into three different linguistic forms in order to show the impact of evidential markers on ToM understanding. With Turkish children, we studied (i) a control form without explicit evidential markers, as conducted by Bayramoglu &amp / Hohenberger (2007), (ii) a verbal form with &ndash / DI (marking factuality in the past ) and (iii) a verbal form with &ndash / MIS (marking hearsay in the past). To predict ToM performance of children, we also conducted a working memory task and two language tasks for complex syntax understanding. Our analysis showed that Turkish children, ranging from 4 to 7 years of age, performed significantly better with the form &ndash / DI than the control form. Also one of the language tasks which measures relative clause understanding was found to be a significant predictor of ToM performance. We conclude that evidential markers may help Turkish children in their online reasoning of ToM. We think that the relation between evidentiality and ToM may be understood clearer with cross-linguistic studies by varying the presence of evidentials and also their linguistic properties (i.e. lexical or morphological) while controlling the materials across languages. Theory of Mind (ToM), Evidentiality, ToM scale, Cognitive Development, Language.

Imitation is a fundamental way of acquiring knowledge in human development. In their theory of goal-directed imitation (GOADI), Wohlschl&auml / ger et al. (2003) divide the representation of observed movements into hierarchically organized aspects the highest of which is usually the goal. In a face-to-face imitation task young children usually copy the (spatial) goal of the body movement in terms of perceptual mirror symmetry rather than match them conceptually onto their own body, as adults do. We refer to these imitation schemes as &ldquo / mirroring&rdquo / and &ldquo / matching&rdquo / respectively. In the present study, we investigate the effects of age and perspective of the child with respect to the experimenter (0&deg / , 90&deg / , 180&deg / ) in two imitation tasks, a hand-to-ear and a cup-grasping task. Moreover, we evaluate the developmental changes in the imitative behavior of children from a dynamical systems perspective. Children were supposed to imitate the movements of the experimenter. Tasks were conducted on 4.5- to 11-year-old Iranian pre-school and elementary school children (81 female, 84 male). Imitation scores for the spatial goal were analyzed in terms of mirroring or matching. Imitation schemes varied according to age and perspective in both tasks. Overall, older children&rsquo / s imitations of movements were more adult-like as established by an adult Iranian control group than those of the younger ones. They rather matched than mirrored observed movements. In the 180&deg / and 90&deg / conditions the mirroring scheme was predominant, but in 0&deg / matching was predominant. GOADI was confirmed / however it was qualified by the child&#039 / s perspective on the experimenter. Children&rsquo / s imitations showed a non-linear shift from perceptually-based mirroring to conceptually-based matching of observed movements onto their own body. This shift happens between 6 and 8-9 years of age. The amount of matching depends not only on age but also on control parameters such as spatial perspective, task demands, and exposure.

This study investigated the understanding of normativity and free will from a developmental perspective. Being a new field of investigation, there is not much research conducted which points to different aspects of normativity. Current study, therefore, aimed to assess Turkish children&rsquo / s normative development on a sample of 2 and 3 years old in the context of games. It was expected, first, that children would show more protest when there is a norm violation. Moreover, older children would show more normative protest than younger ones. The results confirmed these hypotheses. In a second study, it was investigated whether the actor&rsquo / s being free to act as s/he wills versus constrained so that cannot act otherwise had an effect on children&rsquo / s protest in response to norm violations. It was hypothesized that a decrease in normative reactions and an increase in help responses would be observed. No age effect for help responses was expected. The results of this study did not reveal any decrease in normative reactions, but there was an increase in help responses regardless of the age.