Associate Professor Zhenlin Wang staff profile picture

Contact details +6469517412

Associate Professor Zhenlin Wang PhD

Associate Professor

Doctoral Supervisor
Institute of Education

Trained as an early childhood teacher, I went on to pursue my postgraduate studies in developmental psychology. I hold two doctoral degrees from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. I was an exchange scholar at Harvard University and a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge. My research topics range from the cultural, contextual, and familial influences on the development of children’s social cognition to its implications in children's social and cognitive functioning and early childhood teaching and learning. Currently, I serve as an associate editor for British Journal of Developmental Psychology.

Professional

Contact details

  • Location: Social Sciences Tower
    Campus: Manawatū

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy - University of Pennsylvania (2010)

Certifications and Registrations

  • Licence, Supervisor, Massey University

Research Expertise

Research Interests

Child Development; Social Cognition; Parenting

Thematics

21st Century Citizenship, Health and Well-being

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Developmental Psychology and Ageing (170102):
Education (130000):
Psychology (170100): Psychology And Cognitive Sciences (170000)

Keywords

Social cognition, theory of mind, mind-mindedness, personal epistemology, cross-cultural psychology.

Research Projects

Summary of Research Projects

Position Current Completed
Key Researcher / Named Investigator / Associate Investigator 1 0

Research Outputs

Journal

Wang, Z., & Shao, Y. (2024). Picture book reading improves children's learning understanding. British Journal of Developmental Psychology.
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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Xu, H., Wang, Z., Gao, X., Wang, X., & Wu, Q. (2023). Psychometric validation of the sibling inventory of behavior in three- to six-year-old Chinese children. Frontiers in Psychology. 14
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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Wang, Z., Wang, L., Gao, X., & Zhu, L. (2023). Cognitive flexibility moderates the association between theory of mind and children’s offer in the Ultimatum Game (La flexibilidad cognitiva modera la relación entre la teoría de la mente y las ofertas de los niños en el Juego del Ultimátum). Infancia y Aprendizaje. 46(2), 264-284
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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Wang, Z., & Gao, X. (2022). Patience Is a Virtue: Theory of Mind Longitudinally Predicts Children’s Delay during School Transition. Developmental Neuropsychology. 47(5), 233-246
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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Wang, Z., Yeung, PL., & Gao, X. (2021). Under the same roof: Parents’ COVID-related stress mediates the associations between household crowdedness and young children's problem behaviors during social distancing. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology. 2
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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4

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Wang, Z., & Frye, DA. (2021). When a Circle Becomes the Letter O: Young Children’s Conceptualization of Learning and Its Relation With Theory of Mind Development. Frontiers in Psychology. 11
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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1
Wang, Z., & Wang, L. (2021). Little pranksters: Inhibitory control mediates the association between false belief understanding and practical joking in young children. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 45(3), 244-249
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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1
Gao, X., & Wang, Z. (2021). Parental Neuroticism and Negative Discipline: The Role of Household Chaos and Parental Perspective Taking. Journal of Family Psychology. 36(3), 458-467
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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1
Harrison, MG., & Wang, Z. (2020). School counselling based on humanistic principles: A pilot randomised controlled trial in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy. 11(2), 122-138
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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Zhu, N., & Wang, Z. (2020). The paradox of sarcasm: Theory of mind and sarcasm use in adults. Personality and Individual Differences. 163
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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8
Chan, MHM., Wang, Z., Devine, RT., & Hughes, C. (2020). Parental mental-state talk and false belief understanding in Hong Kong children. Cognitive Development. 55
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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7
Gao, Q., Chen, W., Wang, Z., & Lin, D. (2019). Secret of the masters: Young chess players show advanced visual perspective taking. Frontiers in Psychology. 10(OCT)
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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3
Hughes, C., Devine, RT., & Wang, Z. (2018). Does Parental Mind-Mindedness Account for Cross-Cultural Differences in Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind?. Child Development. 89(4), 1296-1310
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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69
Wang, L., & Wang, Z. (2018). The modified temptation resistance task: A paradigm to elicit children's strategic lie-telling. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2018(134)
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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Wang, Z., Wong, RKS., Wong, PYH., Ho, FC., & Cheng, DPW. (2017). Play and theory of mind in early childhood: a Hong Kong perspective. Early Child Development and Care. 187(9), 1389-1402
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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8
Wang, Z., Wang, XC., & Chui, WY. (2017). Young children's understanding of teaching and learning and their theory of mind development: A causal analysis from a cross-cultural perspective. Frontiers in Psychology. 8(MAY)
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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4
Wang, L., Zhu, L., & Wang, Z. (2017). Parental mind-mindedness but not false belief understanding predicts Hong Kong children's lie-telling behavior in a temptation resistance task. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 162, 89-100
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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18
Brown, GTL., & Wang, Z. (2016). Understanding Chinese university student conceptions of assessment: cultural similarities and jurisdictional differences between Hong Kong and China. Social Psychology of Education. 19(1), 151-173
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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24
Wang, Z., Devine, RT., Wong, KK., & Hughes, C. (2016). Theory of mind and executive function during middle childhood across cultures. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 149, 6-22
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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116
Wang, Z., & Wang, L. (2015). The mind and heart of the social child: Developing the empathy and theory of mind scale. Child Development Research. 2015
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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12
Wang, Z. (2015). Theory of mind and children’s understanding of teaching and learning during early childhood. Cogent Education. 2(1)
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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12
Wang, Z., & Brown, GTL. (2014). Hong Kong tertiary students' conceptions of assessment of academic ability. Higher Education Research and Development. 33(5), 1063-1077
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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24
Brown, GTL., & Wang, Z. (2013). Illustrating assessment: How Hong Kong university students conceive of the purposes of assessment. Studies in Higher Education. 38(7), 1037-1057
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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56
Wong, SM., Wang, Z., & Cheng, D. (2011). A play-based curriculum: Hong Kong children's perception of play and non-play. International Journal of Learning. 17(10), 165-180
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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18
Wang, Z. (2010). Children’s picture book and theory of mind development: From McDull to the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. 兒童繪本與心智理論的發展: 從麥兜到三隻小豬的真實故事.. Hong Kong Journal of Early Childhood. 9(2), 44-51
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
Wang, Z., & Hung, LM. (2010). Kindergarten children's number sense development through board games. International Journal of Learning. 17(8), 19-32
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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10
Wang, Z. (2009). To teach or not to teach: Controversy surrounding constructivism in early childhood education. Hong Kong Journal of Early Childhood. 8(1), 56-65
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
Wang, Z. (2000). Children’s human figure drawings: The development of size scaling and its influential factors. 年幼兒童人物畫結構變化及其影響因素. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 32(2), 183-189
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
Wang, Z., Li, W., Fang, J., & Guo, Z. (1999). The relation between cognitive style and children’s partial occlusion drawings. 認知方式與幼兒部分遮擋繪畫關係的研究.. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE-SHANGHAI-. 22(5), 407-410
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
Wang, Z., & Li, W. (1998). Research development in the West on the relation between children’s drawing and cognitive development 西方兒童繪畫與認知發展關係研究的進展.. Psychological Science -Shanghai-. 21(5), 449-451
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
Li, W., Fan, A., Wang, Z., & Wu, Q. (1997). Research on 4- to 9-year-old children’s recognition of spatial patterns. 4-9歲兒童空間圖形認知發展研究.. Psychological Development and Education. 4, 1-5
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.
Li, W., & Wang, Z. (1997). Research on the interference factors of children’s cognition of geometric figures兒童認知幾何圖形干擾因素的研究.. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 29(4), 377-385
[Journal article]Authored by: Wang, Z.

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Book

Wang, Z., & Brown, GTL. (2019). Analyzing Students’ Free Response Drawings: Perceptions of Assessment. In SAGE Research Methods Datasets Part 2. : Sage
[Chapter]Authored by: Wang, Z.
Wang, Z., & Wang, L. (2015). Cognitive Development: Child Education. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition. (pp. 38 - 42).
[Chapter]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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2
Frye, D., & Wang, Z. (2014). THEORY OF MIND, UNDERSTANDING TEACHING AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. In Applied Cognitive Research in K-3 Classrooms. (pp. 85 - 108).
[Chapter]Authored by: Wang, Z.
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8
Slaughter-Defoe, DT., & Wang, Z. (2009). From "ego" to "social comparison": Cultural transmission and child protection policies and laws in a digital age.. In AM. Matwyshyn (Ed.) Harboring Data: Information Security, Law, and the Corporation. (pp. 145 - 157). : Stanford University Press
[Chapter]Authored by: Wang, Z.

Teaching and Supervision

Contact Supervisor

Summary of Doctoral Supervision

Position Current Completed
Co-supervisor 2 0

Current Doctoral Supervision

Co-supervisor of:

  • Shuyu Lei - Doctor of Philosophy
    Exploring the relationship between Subjective Well-being (SWB), Time Management and Academic Stress among Chinese senior high school students - A mixed-methods study.
  • Jess Smith - Doctor of Philosophy
    Teachers' perspectives of social-emotional teaching and learning Aotearoa early childhood