Lecture 3 - TOM and Nature Vs Nurture Flashcards
What is the definition of Theory of Mind (ToM) according to Premack & Woodruff (1978)?
“An individual has a theory of mind if he imputes mental states to himself and others.”
Why is it called a “theory” of mind?
Because mental states are not directly observable, and we form theories to predict others’ behaviour.
What was the key finding in Premack & Woodruff’s (1978) chimpanzee study?
Sarah, a chimpanzee, correctly identified solutions to problems in 21/24 trials (88%), suggesting she understood intentions.
What is the significance of Dennett’s (1978) claim in ToM research?
He argued that being able to predict false beliefs, not just real-world actions, is key to proving ToM.
What age range is associated with the emergence of Theory of Mind?
Typically between 3–5 years of age.
What cognitive ability is lacking in Piaget’s pre-operational stage that affects ToM?
Egocentrism—the tendency to see the world from one’s own perspective only.
What is the ‘Three Mountains’ experiment and what does it demonstrate?
A task where children are asked to choose what a doll sees; younger children choose their own perspective, showing egocentrism.
What is a false belief task?
A test to determine if a child understands that others can hold beliefs that are different from reality and their own.
At what age do children typically start passing false belief tasks?
Around 4 years old.
What is the Deceptive Box Test?
A child is shown a familiar box (e.g., Smarties) with an unexpected item inside (e.g., pencil) and asked what they originally thought was inside.
What did Avis & Harris (1991) find in their study with Baka children?
Even non-Western children demonstrated false belief understanding by correctly identifying where someone would search for a hidden object.
What did Wiesmann et al. (2017) discover about ToM and the brain?
White matter maturation in the brain is associated with the emergence of ToM in early childhood.
According to Wellman (2001), what percentage of children pass false belief tasks by 70 months?
About 80%.
What does longitudinal data suggest about ToM development?
That passing false belief tasks increases gradually with age, not suddenly.
What method did Onishi & Baillargeon (2005) use to test implicit ToM in infants?
Violation of Expectation with eye-tracking.
What did Onishi & Baillargeon (2005) find in 15-month-olds?
Infants looked longer when an actor searched in the incorrect location, indicating an understanding of false belief.
How does having siblings affect ToM development?
Children with siblings, especially older ones, are more likely to pass false belief tasks earlier.
What did Dunn et al. (1991) find about parental influence?
Children whose parents discussed mental states were more likely to pass false belief tasks.
What did Simon Baron-Cohen say about ToM?
It’s a “quintessential ability that makes us human.”
What ToM-related difficulties are seen in autism?
Difficulty in attributing mental states to others, leading to challenges in social communication and empathy.
What’s the difference between genotype and phenotype?
Genotype is the set of genes; phenotype is how those genes are expressed, influenced by environment.
What is phenotypic plasticity?
The degree to which a trait (like ToM or IQ) is shaped by the environment.
What did Perner (1994) and Jenkins & Astington (1996) find about siblings?
3-year-olds with older siblings were more likely to pass false belief tasks.
What is heritability?
The proportion of variance in a trait (like IQ) in a population attributable to genetic factors.
What is the Wilson Effect?
Heritability of IQ increases with age.
What does the A, C, E model stand for in twin studies?
A = Additive genetic effects, C = Common (shared) environment, E = Unique (non-shared) environment + error.
What did Turkheimer et al. (2003) find about IQ and SES?
In low-SES families, IQ was more influenced by environment; in high-SES families, it was more influenced by genes.
What gene-environment interaction did Caspi et al. (2003) study?
The 5-HTTLPR gene moderated depression risk after life stress—those with the short ‘s’ allele were more vulnerable.
