PL3105 Week 5 - Theory of Mind (No Textbook)

What is Theory of Mind?

Ability to

• Attribute mental states to oneself and others

• Understand that other’s mental state may differ from one’s own

What are mental states in ToM context (5)

• Belief

• Intents

• Knowledge

• Emotions

• Desires

What evidence (Onishi & Baillargeon, 2005) suggests that infants possess a rudimentary ToM?

• Infants (15 months and older)

• Non-linguistic false-belief tasks

• Passed, based on gaze duration

• Suggesting they understand other’s mental representation

What did Southgate and Vernetti (2014) contribute to infant ToM research?

• Brain scanning technique

• Demonstrated infants’ neural responses consistent with understanding mental states

What is a false belief task?

Assesses whether individual can understand that others may hold beliefs that are incorrect.

What were the findings of Wimmer and Perner (1983) on false belief tasks?

• Neurotypical children

• 4 years of age

• Pass

• Demonstrating their ability to reason about others’ false beliefs

How do autistic children perform on false belief tasks?

• Require verbal mental age of about 8 years to pass

• Compared to neurotypical who pass at 4

How is ToM disrupted in individuals with autism?

• Domain-specific deficit in ToM

• Struggle to infer others’ mental states

  • Shown with difficulties with false belief tasks

How did Happe (1995) and Baron-Cohen, Leslie, & Frith (1985) contribute to understanding ToM in autism?

• Autistic children face significant challenges in grasping others’ beliefs or intentions

• Requiring advanced verbal development to suceed

What is Simulation Theory in context of ToM? (1, 4)

Individuals understand others by __ as a model:

• Simulating their experiences

• Using their own

  • Emotions

  • Thoughts

  • Actions

What evidence supports Simulation Theory (Sommerville, Woodward, & Needham, 2005)?

• 3 month old infants

• Could infer intentions

• Through personal experiences

• With goal-directed actions

How do adults show egocentrism in Simulation Theory? (Epley, Morewedge, & Keysar, 2004).

• Inferring others’ thoughts/ actions → Default to their own perspective

• Shown by slower responses in tasks requiring perspective taking

What is the Representational Theory of Mind?

Understand others’ mental states by attributing representations to them (such as beliefs, desires or goals)

At what age do humans typically pass representational ToM tasks?

• 3-5 years

• 14 month infants can succeed in non-verbal versions

What is the False Consensus Effect? (Ross, 1977)

Tendency to assume that others share same beliefs, values, or opinions as oneself.

What its Spotlight Effect?

Tendency to overestimate the extent to which others notice one’s actions or appearance.

Why is ToM critical for social interactions?

• Allows individuals to navigate complex social environments

• By understanding and predicting others’ thought and behaviours

What are the limitations of ToM research?

Confounding factors

• Language comprehension

• Memory skills

• Individual differences in developmental disorders (eg. ASD)