[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-427291-105":59,"doc-detail-427291-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","no-concurrent-correlations-between-parental-mental-state-talk-and-toddlers-language-abilities","No concurrent correlations between parental mental state talk and toddlers’ language abilities","","Mental State Talk (MST) describes invisible mental aspects such as desires, beliefs, cognitions, and emotions. The study examines Parental MST and Child MST in a Swedish sample and tests their concurrent links with toddlers’ general language abilities. Seventy-seven parent–toddler dyads participated, with MST coded from laboratory free-play videos and language abilities assessed via parent reports at 25 months. Child MST related positively to vocabulary and grammar, while parental MST showed no concurrent association; exploratory results found a relation for parental MST directed at another person.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/no-concurrent-correlations-between-parental-mental-state-talk-and-toddlers-language-abilities/427291/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/no-concurrent-correlations-between-parental-mental-state-talk-and-toddlers-language-abilities/427291.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"anakgang17","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-14","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does Mental State Talk (MST) refer to in the study?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"MST refers to utterances that describe invisible mental aspects such as desires, beliefs, cognitions, and emotions.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How were MST and general language abilities measured?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"MST was coded from videotaped parent–toddler free-play sessions in a laboratory, while general language abilities were based on parental reports.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What relationship did the study find between Child MST and language abilities?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Child MST was positively associated with toddlers’ vocabulary and grammar.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},427291,1791175210,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090883568,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Journal of Child Language (2025), 52, 117–134 doi:10.1017/S0305000923000594  \nARTICLE  \nNo concurrent correlations between parental mental state talk and toddlers’ language abilities  \nSandra NYBERG1 , Örjan DAHLSTRÖM2 , Daniel VOINIER2, Kerstin BERGSTRÖM2 and Mikael HEIMANN 1   \n1Infant and Child Lab, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden 2Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden  \nCorresponding author: Sandra Nyberg; Email: [sandra.nyberg@liu.se](sandra.nyberg@liu.se)  \n(Received 29 March 2022; revised 12 September 2023; accepted 27 September 2023)  \nAbstract  \nMental State Talk (MST) is utterances describing invisible mental aspects. The first aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of Parental MST and Child MST and their concurrent association in a Swedish population, and the second aim was to relate these MST measures to the children’s general language abilities. Seventy-seven dyads of parents and their 25-month-old toddlers participated. MST was assessed by videotaping the dyads during free-play sessions in a laboratory and general language abilities were based on parental reports. Forty-nine toddlers did not produce MST, while all parents used MST. Child MST was positively associated with vocabulary and grammar. Parental MST was not associated with Child MST nor the children’s general language abilities. In exploratory analyses, Parental MST referred to another than the child was positively correlated with vocabulary and grammar. Further studies are needed to confirm these findingsand continue studying MST in different linguistic contexts.  \nKeywords: internal state language; language ability; mental state talk; parent-child interaction; toddler  \nIntroduction  \nIn early childhood, an essential component of language development is parental talk with their young child (e.g., Anderson et al., 2021) . A specific type of parental input children are exposed to is M􀀁􀀃􀀄􀀅􀀆 S􀀄􀀅􀀄􀀁 T􀀅􀀆􀀇 (MST), which refers to terms an individual uttersto describe invisible and intangible referents such as desires, beliefs, cognitions, and emotions (Slaughter et al., 2009) . MST is typically divided into three different types: Desire/Volition, Emotion/Disposition, and Cognition (e.g., Slaughter et al., 2009; Symons, 2004; Tompkins et al., 2018), though in some cases it has been divided into ten different types (Farkas et al., 2018) . Exposure to parental MST has previously been positively linked not only to children’s own use of MST (Jenkins et al., 2003; Symons et al., 2006), but also to their cognitive development (Baptista et al., 2017), socially adapted behaviors (Bekar et al., 2018), prosocial behavior (Drummond et al., 2014), emotion understanding (Taumoepeau & Ruffman, 2006, 2008) and theory of mind (Racine et al.,  \n© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.  \nDownloaded from [https://www.cambridge.org/core](https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP)[. IP](https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP) address: [166.108.237.103](166.108.237.103), on 29 Sep 2026 at 00:56:53, subject to the Cambridge  \nCore terms of use, available at [https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms](https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms). [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000923000594](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000923000594)  \n118 Sandra Nyberg et al.  \n2007). To date, studies investigating the association between parental MST and children’s general language abilities are few (e.g., Ruffmanet al., 2020)and findings are inconclusive.  \nIn this study, therefore, we investigate the relation between parental MST and child MSTas well as how MST is related to general language a","cbCailY1Bx8xpQqU","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailY1Bx8xpQqU","pdf",483361,18,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Mental State Talk in early childhood\n# Child MST","[{\"question\":\"What does Mental State Talk (MST) refer to in the study?\",\"answer\":\"MST refers to utterances that describe invisible mental aspects such as desires, beliefs, cognitions, and emotions.\"},{\"question\":\"How were MST and general language abilities measured?\",\"answer\":\"MST was coded from videotaped parent–toddler free-play sessions in a laboratory, while general language abilities were based on parental reports.\"},{\"question\":\"What relationship did the study find between Child MST and language abilities?\",\"answer\":\"Child MST was positively associated with toddlers’ vocabulary and grammar.\"}]","No concurrent correlations between parental mental state talk and toddlers’ language abilities | PDF",1790643422,45]