chapter 5 theory of mind

Question 1

what is theory of mind

Answer 1

ability to attribute mental states such as beliefs, intentions, desires, emotions & knowledge to oneself & to other

cognitive capacity to understand ppl have their own thoughts, feelings, intentions, perspectives that may be diff frm ours

can use to make inferences abt mental state of others & predict/explain their behaviour

Question 2

false beliefs task

Answer 2

used to measure child’s ability to understand that others may hold beliefs that differ frm reality

case study: sally and anne

Question 3

infant theory of mind

Answer 3

emerging & developing understanding that infants hv about the mental states & experience of others

case study: non linguistic false belief task

Question 4

autism

Answer 4

disruption in system responsible for TOM in autistic individuals

Question 5

domain-specific deficit

Answer 5

can understand drawing task (doesnt require interpreting someone else’s mental state) but cnt understand false belief task

require verbal mental age of 8 y.o. to pass false belief task vs 4 y.o. for neurotypical children

Question 6

representational theory of mind

Answer 6

require us to represent what others are thinking & feeling

Question 7

simulation theory of mind

Answer 7

ppl use their own thoughts, feelings & experiences to understand others

good: useful info for understanding others

bad: egocentric in our inferences abt others (assume ppl think/feel similarly to us)

in inferring other ppl’s thoughts, we predict our own upon them

Question 8

spotlight effect

Answer 8

tendency to overestimate the extent to which our actions & appearances are noted by others

Question 9

false consensus effect

Answer 9

tendency to see your own behavioural choices as common & appropriate while viewing alternative responses as uncommon, deviant, inappropriate

Question 10

when do humans get ability of attributing mental states to others (false belief task)

Answer 10

age 3-5