APRENDIZAJE Y DESARROLLO DE LA TEORíA DE LA MENTE EN LA EDAD PREESCOLAR: ALGUNAS CONSIDERACIONES TEóRICAS Y EDUCATIVAS

The purpose of this paper is to consider the relationship between development, or developmental change, and learning, or educational change, in the light of the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and the impact they have had in recent advances in Theory of Mind (ToM) research. ToM can be understood as the capacity that allows people to explain human behavior by attributing mental states like beliefs, desires or intentions. It is suggested that learning and development have a reciprocal relationship which varies according to each developmental moment. Early forms of social cognition support both the emergence of linguistic abilities and educational interchanges, and at the same time, the latter makes possible the development of more complex forms of social cognition such as the understanding of false beliefs. Finally, several educational activities aimed at fostering the acquisition of ToM during the preschool period are discussed. This articule is written in Spanish.