The origins of children’s metamemory: The role of theory of mind

•Cognitive, but not affective, ToM is concurrently related to metamemory.•Cognitive ToM predicts later metamemory, independently of early verbal ability.•Cognitive ToM can be considered as a precursor of metacognition.

The relation between preschoolers’ theory of mind (ToM) and declarative metamemory (DM) was investigated in two studies. The first study focused on 4-year-old children’s (N = 106) cognitive and affective ToM and their DM. The data showed a significant association between cognitive (but not affective) ToM and DM, independent of verbal ability, non-verbal ability, and working memory. The second study involved 83 children tested at 4 years 6 months of age (and 6 months later) for cognitive ToM and DM. Here, results showed that early cognitive ToM, in particular false-belief understanding, predicts later DM independent of early verbal ability. These data support a view considering cognitive ToM as a precursor of children’s DM.