theory of mind

theory of mind

an understanding that others have their own disntinct mental states/processes

mental states

• preferences

• goals

• knowledge

• beliefs

• emotions

agent

any entity that has control over its actions (i.e. has mental states that control decisions)

ex. people, animals. shapes

motivational states

what motivates the agent to act

• preferences, desires, goals

ex

Question: Can infants attribute a preference to an agent? Do they expect the agent to act in line with these preferences?

Preference Task:

• Woodward (1998,199); Song, Baillargeon, & Fisher (2014)

• 5-12 months

• Violation of Expectation (VOE) method

  • 2 conditions

    • 2 objects

    • 1 object

Questions:

1. Can infants attribute a goal to an agent?

2. Do they expect the agent to pursue this goal efficiently?

Detour Task:

• disentangles the goal from the means

• Gergely, Csibra, & colleagues (1995, 1999, many others)

• 9 & 12 months

• VOE Method

• experimental and control conditions

Question:

1. Do infants use goal understanding to inform their own actions?

Imitation Task:

• Gergely, Csibra, & colleagues (1995, 1999, many others)

• 14 months

• turning on a light with one’s forehead

• 2 conditions

  • hands occupied

  • hands free

epistemic states

what the agent does/does not know

• facts of the world

ex.

Question:

Do infants keep track of what agents can/cannot see?

Knowledge-Based Preference Task:

• Luo and Baillargeon (2007)

• 12 months

• VOE Method

• 2 conditions

  • Transparent (knowledge)

  • Opaque (ignorant)

counterfactual states

false information the agent beliefs

• false beliefs about the world

Question:

• Do infants expect agents to act based on their beliefs about the world, even if the infants knows what belief is false?

VOE-FB Task:

• Onishi & Baillargeon (2005)

• 15 months

• VOE method

• 2 conditions:

  • false-belief

  • true-belief

emotional states

what the agent feels

• happiness, sadness, fear, relief