EC Neurology

The uses of mental state terms (MSTs) such as think, wanting, and happiness were compared between schoolchildren from urban marginalized and middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds from the city of Santa Fe, Argentina. Schoolchildren, regardless of their socioeconomic group, showed a higher frequency of cognitive terms (54%) compared to those related to desire (26%) and emotion (19%), which differs from studies in preschool children. No significant differences were found in the total number of MSTs produced between the two groups. However, lexical diversity was lower in children from urban marginalized backgrounds across all three types of MSTs. This is attributed to variations in linguistic input and the type of communicative practices, rather than a linguistic deficit. It is suggested that sociocultural differences in language development should be considered, and that interpretations based on middle-class standards should be avoided. The transition to schooling is associated with an expansion of mentalistic vocabulary, especially in the cognitive domain.

 Keywords: Mental State Terms; Socioeconomic Level; Lexical Acquisition; School Development

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