The development of processing nested structures in language and action and false-belief understanding in preschool children.

Influential theories have proposed that processing nested structures constitutes an important characteristic of human cognition among various domains. It might represent an important cognitive capacity in human development. We assessed the development of nested structure processing (NSP) in 3- to 6-year-old German children (N = 130) across two domains, language and action. We explored (1) whether NSP development is related across the domains, (2) to which extent it relates to general cognitive functions such as inhibitory control (IC) and working memory (WM), and (3) whether NSP in action and language relates to the early development of false-belief understanding (FBU). NSP in the action and language domain was correlated even when controlling for IC, yet the correlation was not significant anymore when controlling for WM or age. Furthermore, NSP in action related to FBU even when controlling for WM, IC, and age. Overall, the results point to the development of a domain-general NSP capacity during preschool years. They suggest that WM constitutes an essential basis for NSP. Furthermore, our results support cognitive theories proposing that NSP plays a role in the early development of explicit FBU. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).