The effect of training mental states on improving mind theory and the social skills of elementary school children

Abstract

Mind theory is defined as the ability to understand that others have got some mental states such as thoughts, inclinations, and beliefs that can differ from our mental states or from the reality. This study is aimed at determining how much the training of mental states can affect improving the theory of mind and the social skills of school children. The design of this study was quasi-experimental, with pre-test, posttest and control group. 30 second-grade female elementary school students were selected for this study based on cluster sampling. After homogenizing the subjects based on age, intelligence and mind-theory grades, they were randomly divided into two groups, each having 15 students. Mental states were taught to the students of the experimental groups for nine sessions while the control group did not receive any instruction. Before and after instructions, both groups received mind theory test and social skills questionnaire. (the teacher format of Grasham and Elliot scale of social skills, 1990). The data collected from pre-test and posttest were analyzed using Co-variance analysis. The results indicated that the training of mental states had significant effect on improving the levels of mind theory and the social skills of school children. The results indicated that we can use this plan of mental state training to improve the social skills and to solve the problems of school children.