Theory of Mind

Moral dilemma

Occurs when you have to make a choice about right and wrong but there is no obvious answer

Morals

Personal beliefs about what is right and wrong

Ethics

Refers to standards about what is right and wrong in particular contexts.

Theory of Mind

A cognitive process. Refers to the ability to realize other people have their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that are different to ours.

Symbolic Play

Children pretend play, it involves understanding and re-enacting other’s perspectives. D

Deception

Telling a lie involves intentionally instilling a false belief in another person’s mind.R

Reading Comprehension

Needed for readers to make inferences and predictions and understand character’s intentions.

Narratives

Involves monitoring and maintaining listener’s attention and shifting between perspectives.

Baron Cohen’s Four Stage Theory

Outline how children gradually acquire the ability to understand other people’s thoughts, beliefs, and intentions through four different stages.

Pre-theory of mind

(First year of a child’s life)

1. Gaze Following

2. Proto declarative pointing

3. Seeing leads to knowing

Gaze following

Child follows where someone is looking.

Proto-declarative pointing

Child points at same object of interest as another person

Seeing leads to knowing

Child understands what a person sees

Desire Stage

(12 and 24 months)

Child can detect that someone wants soemthing

Belief desire

(3 years)

Make mental representations of the world (schema)

Understand that people have differing beliefs/desires

Representational

(4 years)

Children interact with other children more directly

Understand others beliefs can be false

Deontologists

Make their moral judgements based on the act itself- do no harm

Utilitarians

Make their moral judgements based on utility- the practical benefit of the decision. They consider the outcome of the action- minimize overall harm.

Cognitive development

The process through which we learn about the world around us

Theory theory

Children observe the world around them and gather data about how it works like ‘active scientists’, they develop schema.

Simulation theory

We understand others by comparing them to ourselves

Mirror neurons

Fire when a person performs an actions or when a person observes somebody else perform the same action.

Strengths of TOM

Lots of empirical evidence and longitudinal studies

Limitations of TOM

Language used for tasks can be complex for children, studied on WEIRD populations mostly, simplifies social interactions, focuses more on innate cognitive mechanisms and less on role of environmental factors.