On the inherent yet dynamic link between metaphor and theory of mind in middle childhood: bridging experimental pragmatics and developmental psychology

We present the overview of a decade-long research program bridging experimental pragmatics and developmental psychology and targeting the relationship between individual differences in metaphor skills and Theory of Mind (ToM). We developed the Physical and Mental Metaphors task and used it alongside the Strange Stories task in a series of studies involving neurotypical children throughout middle childhood. A meta-analysis conducted on our work, including 500 children aged 8-12, showed that metaphor and ToM are significantly associated, even when controlling for vocabulary. This association peaks around the age of 9 and fades away with increasing age. Our longitudinal and training studies evidenced that it is especially metaphor that benefits ToM, rather than vice versa. The results of our research program confirm the inherent mindreading component of pragmatic operations as postulated by post-Gricean pragmatics, also highlighting that ToM involvement in metaphor varies dynamically depending on age and possibly other factors such as the type of metaphor. We argue that pragmatics should not be seen as ancillary to ToM but rather a driving factor for socio-cognitive development and that integrating insights from developmental psychology in studying metaphors and pragmatics, such as the attention to individual differences, brings new opportunities for research.