Literacy predicts performance on a second-order false-belief task
- 1Department of Psychology, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
- 2Lehrstuhl für Language and Cognition, Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
Abstract
The vast majority of research on false-belief understanding has been conducted with literate populations. However, to our knowledge, no prior study has examined how literacy acquisition itself influences false-belief reasoning. The development of false-belief understanding is shaped by a range of factors, including language skills, education, reading experience, and cognitive abilities. Illiterate speakers often show substantial variability in language skills and cognitive abilities. In this study, we investigated the impact of nonverbal IQ, inhibitory control, and reading fluency on false-belief understanding in adult native Turkish speakers, comparing literate and illiterate participants. We found considerable individual differences in false-belief performance across both groups, as well as in the cognitive measures. Strikingly, reading fluency (assessed via a 1-minute timed word-reading task) emerged as the most significant predictor of false-belief performance, accounting for 49% of the variance. We propose that literacy acquisition may support the development of false-belief reasoning by enhancing language skills, cognitive control, metalinguistic awareness, and perspective-taking through engagement with written narratives. These findings carry broader implications for psychology, linguistics, and adult education.
Related
- An Efficient Implicit Tau-Leaping Method for Estimating Second-Order Sensitivities of Stiff Stochastic Biochemical Systems
- Heliozoan cellular architecture predicts prey capture performance and growth rate
- Structured recurrence of latent neural processes predicts memory recognition performance
- Classification of strongly non-hyperbolic critical points of planar second-order chemical reaction systems
- Ageing, Digital Literacy, and Interaction Modality in Immersive Virtual Reality: Psychomotor Performance, Cognitive Flexibility, and Their Processing-Speed Association
BibTeX
@article{gedik2026literacy,
title = {{Literacy predicts performance on a second-order false-belief task}},
author = {Tan Arda Gedik and Vania De la Garza and Ewa Dabrowska},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0357313},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357313},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Literacy predicts performance on a second-order false-belief task
AU - Tan Arda Gedik
AU - Vania De la Garza
AU - Ewa Dabrowska
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0357313
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357313
AB - The vast majority of research on false-belief understanding has been conducted with literate populations. However, to our knowledge, no prior study has examined how literacy acquisition itself influences false-belief reasoning. The development of false-belief understanding is shaped by a range of factors, including language skills, education, reading experience, and cognitive abilities. Illiterate speakers often show substantial variability in language skills and cognitive abilities. In this study, we investigated the impact of nonverbal IQ, inhibitory control, and reading fluency on false-belief understanding in adult native Turkish speakers, comparing literate and illiterate participants. We found considerable individual differences in false-belief performance across both groups, as well as in the cognitive measures. Strikingly, reading fluency (assessed via a 1-minute timed word-reading task) emerged as the most significant predictor of false-belief performance, accounting for 49% of the variance. We propose that literacy acquisition may support the development of false-belief reasoning by enhancing language skills, cognitive control, metalinguistic awareness, and perspective-taking through engagement with written narratives. These findings carry broader implications for psychology, linguistics, and adult education.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -