Development of Theory of Mind Flashcards
What is theory of mind?
The insight that people hold mental states and that these govern behaviour - we act according to our perception of behaviour
What are mental states?
Beliefs, desires, goals, etc.
Why do we need a theory of mind?
Allows us to make sense of the social world - to predict and explain people’s actions
What can we say about desire based ToM compared to belief based ToM?
Desire based ToM develops earlier
Repacholi & Gopnik 1997
Broccoli and crisps
18 month old but not 14 month old understood that the experimenter’s desired food differed from theirs
Suggests that they understand that desire is a subjective mental state that can differ from person to person
What does a belief based ToM require?
The notion that a person has a representation of the world, the contents of which may be quite different from the contents of the world itself
Belief based ToM is a shift from what to what understanding of behaviour?
Situation based understanding of behaviour (what the world is) to a representation based understanding of behaviour (what we think the world is)
Reality vs belief
What does a false belief task test?
Whether the child can represent what another person believes in contrast to their own beliefs or reality
What is an unexpected transfer task?
object moved from one location to another when protagonist is absent
Where will protagonist look for the object
Have to inhibit own knowledge of where the object now is
What is the deceptive box task?
Perner et al. (1987) - Smarties
Contents of box doesn’t match what would be expected
What would someone else think is inside?
What is typically found in false belief tasks and how is this interpreted?
3 year-olds usually fail
4 year-olds usually pass
Traditionally taken as evidence that around this time children acquire a ToM
But, do these tasks underestimate younger children’s ability?
How have false belief tasks been adapted to allow younger children to show competence?
Simplifying language used:
Clarify the test question
Story comprehension
What have simplifications of false belief tasks shown?
Improves performance at younger ages but not dramatically
What does lack of evidence not mean?
Lack of competence
Performance limitations may mask competence
What do ‘boosters’ argue about ToM?
Early onset view
Early competence
Competence is masked by performance limitations
Task manipulations may enhance performance
3 year-olds should be able to perform above chance
What do ‘scoffers’ argue about ToM?
Delayed onset view
Only after conceptual change
Performance must change from incorrect to systematically above chance
Developmental change on false belief tasks reflects genuine conceptual change
Task demands/processing limitations should not account completely for performance
Wellman, Cross, & Watson (2001) - meta-analysis of FB tasks
3.5 years of age perform at or below chance
After 4 years performance is above chance
Conclude that results are more in line with scoffers/conceptual change account
What variables don’t make a difference to false belief task performance?
Type of task or question
Nature of protagonist/object
What variables improve fb task performance?
Deceptive motive
Active participation
Salience of mental state
