So much of what makes a conversation, a story, or a friendship work is never said out loud. A friend sighs and looks away. A character in a book grabs an umbrella. A classmate says "Nice job" in a tone that means the opposite. Understanding moments like these depends on two skills that speech-language pathologists pay close attention to: inferencing and perspective-taking. Here's what they are, how they typically develop, and where they show up in everyday life.
What is inferencing?
ASHA describes making inferences as "understanding information that is not explicitly stated."[3] In other words, it's filling in the gaps using clues and what you already know. If a story says a boy came inside shivering with snow on his boots, most readers infer that it's cold outside, even though the story never says so.
ASHA lists inference as one of the key abilities that support social understanding, alongside skills like joint attention, memory, and executive functioning.[1] It also lists inferential language and "understanding that which is not explicitly stated" among the areas where social communication difficulties can appear.[3]
What is perspective-taking (and theory of mind)?
Perspective-taking is closely tied to a concept researchers call theory of mind. ASHA describes theory of mind as identifying and understanding the mental states other people have, such as their knowledge, desires, and intentions, "and understanding that they may differ from one's own."[1] ASHA also lists the "ability to take the perspective of another and modify social behavior and language use accordingly" as a key part of social understanding.[1]
Put simply, perspective-taking is realizing that someone else might know, want, or feel something different from you, and then adjusting what you say or do.[1] It's why a child might explain a game's rules to a new friend but not to a sibling who already knows them.
How do these skills develop in children?
These abilities grow gradually. ASHA's social communication benchmarks describe a general sequence:[2]
| Age | Examples from ASHA's benchmarks |
|---|---|
| 24–36 months | Understands that others may feel differently than oneself[2] |
| 3–4 years | Infers information from a story, infers indirect meanings, and uses inferences in stories[2] |
| 4–5 years | Develops a basic understanding of theory of mind, including that another person may believe something that isn't true; understands that beliefs can lead to predictable emotions[2] |
| 6–12 years | Predicts what one person is thinking about what another person is thinking or feeling, recognizes sarcasm, and uses inferential and figurative language[2] |
| Older adolescence | Can explain idioms and nuanced figurative language, and develops close friendships[2] |
Research on the preschool years adds more detail. A meta-analysis of 178 studies on "false-belief" tasks, which test whether a child understands that someone can believe something that isn't true, found a consistent developmental pattern. Preschoolers moved from below-chance to above-chance performance, a pattern that held across different countries and task designs.[4] Another study found that children tend to master different parts of theory of mind in a consistent order. For most children, passing a later task meant they had also passed the earlier ones.[5]
ASHA notes that cultural and linguistic factors can influence these benchmarks, and that timing varies for many reasons, including neurodiversity.[2]
How are language and perspective-taking connected?
Language and theory of mind are closely linked. A meta-analysis of 104 studies with nearly 8,900 children under age 7 found a moderate to large relationship between language ability and false-belief understanding, even after accounting for age. The link was stronger from earlier language to later false-belief understanding than the other way around.[6]
Why do these skills matter for friendships?
A meta-analysis of 20 studies including 2,096 children, aged from about 2 years 8 months to 10 years, found that children with higher theory-of-mind scores tended to be more popular with their peers.[7] The overall association was a correlation of about 0.19, and the analysis looked at how the two tend to go together rather than testing whether one causes the other.[7] ASHA notes that social communication difficulties can affect a child's ability to take part in social settings and to develop peer relationships.[3]
It's also worth remembering that perspective-taking goes both ways. ASHA emphasizes that there's a wide range of acceptable communication norms across individuals, families, and cultures, and that SLPs recognize neurodiversity and communication differences as part of a person's identity.[3] ASHA describes the aim of social communication as effectively meeting the individual's own goals or developmental needs, rather than matching a single set of standard social norms.[1]
How do inferencing skills affect reading?
Inferencing is just as important on the page as it is on the playground. ASHA notes that reading comprehension requires skills such as using prior knowledge and making inferences and predictions, and lists the "ability to make inferences and integrate meaning within text" among the skills that support comprehension.[8] ASHA also describes the "simple view of reading," which treats decoding and language comprehension as the two primary components of reading.[8] Our post on when a child can read the words but doesn't understand them looks at this more closely.
Signs worth asking about
Based on ASHA's description of social communication difficulties, these patterns may be worth discussing with a professional if they're persistent:[3]
- Often taking things literally or missing implied meaning
- Difficulty understanding figurative or ambiguous language
- Frequently misreading the meaning of a situation
- Difficulty adjusting what they say for different listeners
Timing varies from child to child, and one of these on its own isn't a cause for alarm.[2] For more on the social side of communication, see our guide to pragmatic language.
The bottom line
Inferencing and perspective-taking help children understand stories, follow conversations, and connect with friends. They develop gradually through childhood and are closely tied to language.[2, 6] If you're noticing that your child often misses what isn't said directly, a speech-language pathologist can look at these skills as part of a broader evaluation. You can learn more about our social communication and language therapy services.
Sources
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (n.d.). Components of Social Communication. ASHA Practice Portal.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (n.d.). Social Communication Benchmarks. ASHA Practice Portal.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (n.d.). Social Communication Disorder (Practice Portal). ASHA.
- Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001). Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: The truth about false belief. Child Development.
- Wellman, H. M., & Liu, D. (2004). Scaling of theory-of-mind tasks. Child Development.
- Milligan, K., Astington, J. W., & Dack, L. A. (2007). Language and theory of mind: Meta-analysis of the relation between language ability and false-belief understanding. Child Development.
- Slaughter, V., Imuta, K., Peterson, C. C., & Henry, J. D. (2015). Meta-analysis of theory of mind and peer popularity in the preschool and early school years. Child Development.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (n.d.). Written Language Disorders (Practice Portal). ASHA.
Articles from Speech Me Therapy, a pediatric speech-language therapy practice in North Phoenix serving Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and families across Arizona by telehealth. Our posts summarize published guidance from professional and public health organizations; sources are listed at the end of every article.