Understanding of intention and false belief and the development of self‐control

We tested the prediction that there is a direct developmental link between understanding false belief, understanding that reflex movements are not intentional actions and the ability to inhibit interfering action tendencies. The common ability consists of the understanding of mental states as representations with causal efficacy (Perner, 1991). One false belief task, the knee‐jerk reflex task and two executive function tasks (Dimensional Change Card Sorting Test and hand game) were given to 69 children aged 3, 4 and 5 years old. The results showed that the relationship between false belief and executive control tasks also extends to children's understanding of reflex movements.