Early perspective taking predicts later cognitive flexibility: A longitudinal study

Perspective taking and cognitive flexibility are important abilities for navigating our everyday lives. In this longitudinal study with 108 children (61 girls, mostly White), we investigated the developmental relation between Level 1 perspective taking at 27 months of age and Level 2 perspective taking at 52 months of age as well as relations to cognitive flexibility at 52 months of age. We found that early perspective taking was significantly related to later, more complex perspective taking abilities as well as to cognitive flexibility. This highlights the importance of early perspective taking abilities for later perspective understanding and flexible cognition.