Knowledge Attribution

Question 1

What is ToM?

Answer 1

Theory of mind
= Imputing mental states to others
> Understanding that others’ behaviour is guided by their mental states.

Question 2

Benefit of ToM

Answer 2

Increased flexibility in dealing with others.
Qualitative improvement:
- Cooperation: Role understanding
- Imitation: Perspective understanding
- Intentional communication, deception

Question 3

Testing ToM - Problem

Answer 3

Problem: Mental states not directly observable
> Have to be inferred via behaviour
» Diff. interpretations possible (example: Stepwise movement of female baboon towards subdom male in presence of α-male)

Question 4

ToM - Tests

Answer 4

• Gaze following: “Barrier test” - (STOR vs. ToM)
• Knower-guesser paradigm: Begging paradigm
• Competitive food retrieval paradigm - (Alternative: Evil eye hypothesis; behavioural cues)
• Competitive back-and-forth paradigm: Predicting others’ inferences and preferences
• Pilfering paradigm - (corvids; alternative: Behavioural cues: relaxation vs. tension)
• Cross-modal caching paradigm: Peephole
• Desire-state attribution (Eurasian jays)

Question 5

Alternative to ToM

Answer 5

Paying attention to presence/absence of behavioural cues that correlate with attention-state (e.g. orientation of body/head/eyes)

Question 6

ToM - Evidence

Answer 6

• Apes: Adjust communicative signals to others’ visual attention-state
• Corvids: Sensitive to visual attention-state of competitors at caching (re-caching)
• Eurasian jays: Desire-state attribution
• Primates, sev. mammals, birds, some reptiles: Gaze-following

-> Evidence for perspective, knowledge, belief, desire