2. Theory of Mind Lecture Notes

Flashcards on Theory of Mind

Theory of Mind

The insight that people hold mental states, which govern behavior, and the ability to understand what others might be thinking.

Mental states

Belief, desire, and goals.

Desire-based ToM

People's desires are idiosyncratic and constantly changing

False belief task

Tests whether a child can represent what another person believes in contrast to their own beliefs or reality

Test Question in Maxi chocolate task

Where will Maxi look for his chocolate?

Memory Question in Maxi chocolate task

Where did Maxi put his chocolate?

Reality Question in Maxi chocolate task

Where did Mum put his chocolate?

Sally-Ann Task

A false-belief task that involves Sally and Ann in a playroom, where Sally places a ball in a basket and leaves the room, and Ann moves the ball to a box. Then children is asked where Sally will think the ball is

Deceptive Box Task aka the Smarties Task

What is inside this tube? (guess, usually smarties); What is in it? (see, pencils); What will your friend xxx say is inside? (predict)

Traditional interpretation of Theory of Mind acquisition

Radical conceptual shift and stage-like development around 4 years.

Problems with language

Temporal marking and story comprehension

Wellman et al (2001) conclusion

Manipulating several variables improved performance across all ages, not selectively unmasking early competence.

Factors contributing to ToM development

Improvement in executive functioning and social experiences.

Harris (1999)

Conversations are crucial for exposing children to other people's perspectives, providing them with the vocabulary needed to discuss and reflect on mental states

Theory of Mind Scale

People can have different desires for the same thing; People can have different beliefs about the same situation; Something can be true, but someone might not know that; Something can be true but someone might falsely believe something different; Someone can feel one way but display a different emotion

Theory of Mind in Western countries

Diverse Desires > Diverse Beliefs > Knowledge Access > False Belief > Hidden Emotion

Theory of Mind in Chinese and Iranian children

Diverse Desires > Knowledge Access > Diverse Beliefs > False Belief > Hidden Emotion

Executive Functions

A set of domain-general cognitive abilities that help us to control and guide our attention and behavior.

Components of Executive Functions

Inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory.

Inhibition

Controlling not doing something you don’t want to do

Cognitive Flexibility

Responding to the same thing in different ways depending on the context

Working Memory

Holding important information for your 'goal' in mind and manipulating information in your head

Executive functions - biological constraints

The frontal lobes of the brain are very important for executive functions which are not fully developed until you're 25-30

Explicit knowledge

Knowledge easily accessible to the child; Measure via elicited response, e.g., verbal answer to a question

Implicit knowledge

Knowledge the child is unaware of; Measure via spontaneous response, e.g., emotional response, anticipatory looking, violation of expectancy

Moll et al. (2016) method

Investigated children's facial expressions as indices of their belief understanding. Predicted that if 3yos perceive the conflict between a person's belief and reality, they will show signs of suspense (e.g., lip biting and brow furrowing) when observing an actor about to act on basis of their false belief

Aim of Clements & Perner, 1994

To get evidence for a period of implicit understanding of FB that precedes the onset of explicit understanding

Anticipatory looking paradigm

Used to determine if infants can predict events in the world. Measure the direction of an infant/child's first look after an event

Looking time studies with infants: Violation-of-expectancy method

Familiarise infant to an event then present test behaviour that is either consistent or inconsistent with the prior event.

Dual route model?

Two systems can compute beliefs of others: fast and efficient system and slow and cognitively demanding system