Remarkable changes take place during the preschool period in childrenÍs ability to make reference to mental states in explaining and predicting peopleÍs behavior. These ñtheory of mindî advances may be attributed to conceptual changes in part, but significant development in childrenÍs executive functioning (EF) during this period might also play an important role: EF development may enable children to entertain multiple mental representations of reality. Past research has shown a powerful correlation between individual differences in childrenÍs inhibitory control (a central aspect of EF) and theory of mind skills, as well as significant improvement in 3-year-oldsÍ theory of mind performance when the inhibitory demands of the task were experimentally reduced. I will present recent research investigating the specificity of the executive functions involved in theory of mind performance. The findings (a) replicated the inhibition/theory of mind relation, and (b) implicated inhibitory processes over and above other aspects of EF such as working memory capacity and planning ability. I will also describe a longitudinal study in progress to examine the nature of this relation earlier in development. Finally, I will present recent data and further speculations on the role of inhibitory processes in childrenÍs growing representational competence more generally.