Theory-of-mind (ToM) plays a critical role in early language acquisition. However, whether ToM continues to support word learning in adults is unknown. This study tests whether engaging nonverbal ToM assists novel word encoding and retention. We examined young adults word learning in direct-mapping and pragmatically-inferred contexts. Each word learning block for each context was proceeded by a brief, non-verbal animation that either primed the ToM system or did not engage ToM. We found that initial pragmatically-inferred meaning mapping was assisted specifically by priming ToM prior to word learning. Long-term word retention was strengthened for both pragmatically-inferred and directly-mapped words,when learning was preceded by a ToM video. These results demonstrate that ToM causally interacts with word learning processes and facilitates both encoding and retention. Our findings strengthen previous arguments that ToM plays a critical role in language development and broaden this to encompass lifelong vocabulary learning.

Authors:

Katherine Trice: Northeastern University; Emily Cohen: Northeastern University; Zhenghan Qi: Northeastern University