Conversational–Communicative Experience and Theory of Mind in Taiwanese Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

Purpose: This study examined theory-of-mind (ToM) development in Taiwanese deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children with early hearing provisions, extending prior evidence from Western contexts. We specifically tested whether conversational–communicative experience, indexed by DHH children's accumulated hearing experience, predicts ToM through language competence and explored what ToM sequence characterizes Taiwanese DHH children. Method: Sixty-five DHH children (4–6 years of age) with cochlear implants or hearing aids and 65 chronological age-matched hearing peers were tested for their ToM and language. All children were monolingual speakers of Mandarin growing up in Taiwan. We used structural equation modeling to examine the pathways linking accumulated hearing experience, language, and ToM. Results: We found that accumulated hearing experience predicted ToM and did so indirectly through language. Also, when matched on conversational–communicative experience (i.e., accumulated hearing experience for DHH children and chronological age as a proxy for hearing children), DHH and hearing children performed equivalently on ToM. Furthermore, although hearing children followed the ToM sequence typically observed in collectivistic societies, Taiwanese DHH children exhibited the sequence typically observed in individualistic societies, reflecting the unique communicative emphases for DHH children in schooling settings in Taiwan. Conclusion: These findings suggest that cross-culturally, conversational–communicative experience is the focal mechanism of ToM development and emphasize that early auditory intervention and conversationally rich environments can help DHH children develop language and ToM.