Lecture 5: Learning about the Social World Flashcards
what’s in a mind
Desires, knowledge, and intentions
how do we understand the mind?
by inferring; it cannot be observed
development of our understanding of the mind
Children come to understand each of these at different ages
when do we begin to understand others’ intentions
6 months old
understanding actions study design
violation of expectation paradigm
understanding actions study method
6-month-olds were habituated to a hand reaching for a ball that was beside a doll
understanding actions study test
some infants are shown a hand reaching for the ball, while others are shown a hand reaching for the doll
understanding actions study results
infants who saw the hand reaching for the doll looked longer at the display than infants who saw the hand reach for the ball
understanding actions study takeaways
- This suggests that infants understand the intentions behind actions
- This shows that infants understood the original action was directed at a specific object, not at a specific location
when do we learn to distinguish between intentional and accidental actions
9 months old
how do we know that infants can distinguish between accidents and intentional actions
They are more frustrated when an adult purposely doesn’t give them toys vs. when an adult tries to give them a toy, but accidentally drops it
the importance of understanding intentions
- A step towards understanding the minds of others
- Enables joint attention
- Enables imitation
joint attention
The shared attention of 2 people on the same object or event and the awareness that they are paying attention to the same thing
when does joint attention emerge
between 9-12 months
joint attention and autism
Difficulty with joint attention is an early indicator of autism spectrum disorders
joint attention and learning
- Joint attention is critical for learning from others
- Teaching can only happen if children are paying attention to the same thing as their caregiver
imitation
Voluntarily matching another person’s behaviour
when does imitation emerge
between 9-12 months old
innate basis of imitation
Nativists argue that newborn’s matching of sticking their tongue out is evidence that imitation is innate
criticism of the innate view of imitation
- Newborns don’t match any other behaviour except sticking their tongue out
- Sticking their tongue out is a common newborn response to stimuli they find generally interesting/arousing
consensus on the basis of imitation
newborn’s matching of adults sticking their tongue out is coincidental and simply an indication of interest
imitation and learning
- Imitation is crucial for observational learning
- Not passively imitating, but actively interpreting actions to figure out what to imitate
imitating intentional actions study method
12-month-olds observed an adult turn on a light with her head under two conditions
imitating intentional actions study conditions
Hands-occupied: the adult was forced to use her head
Hands-free: the adult freely chooses to use her head
imitating intentional actions study results
Hands-occupied: babies turned on the light using their hands
Hands-free: babies turned on the light using their head
imitating intentional actions study takeaways
- children imitate the goals of actions, not the actions themselves
- children are actively thinking about what they are observing
theory of mind
The ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that other people can have desires, knowledge, and beliefs that differ from one’s own
when do we begin to understand that desires lead to actions?
1 year old
understanding one’s desires study design
violation of expectation paradigm
understanding one’s desires study method
12-month-olds saw an experimenter look at one of 2 stuffed kittens with vocal and facial expressions of joy. The screen descended and when raised, the experimenter was holding one of the kittens
understanding one’s desires study results
12-month-olds looked longer when the experimenter was holding the other kitten vs. the one they were originally looking at
understanding one’s desires study takeaway
this suggests that 12-month-olds understand that desires are linked with actions
understanding desires study in 8-month-olds
- 8-month-olds look at the 2 displays for similar amounts of time
- This suggests that they don’t understand that desires are linked with actions
what is needed to understand others’ desires?
the understanding that other people are separate from the self
when does our implicit sense of self as separate from others develop?
we’re born with it
rooting reflex
if someone brushes their cheek, infants will turn in the direction of the touch and open their mouth
what happens to the rooting reflex if infants touch their own cheek?
they will not turn in that direction (the reflex doesn’t occur)
the rooting reflex demonstrates ____
that we are born with an implicit sense of self as separate from others
when does our more explicit sense of self develop?
18-24 months
rouge test
recognizing oneself in the mirror
when do infants begin to pass the rouge test?
18-24 months
benefit of being able to distinguish the self from others
enables a better understanding of others’ unique desires
predicting a character’s action based on their desires
- 2-year-olds can predict a character’s actions based on the character’s desires rather than their desires
- Younger children use their desires to predict a character’s actions
when do we begin to understand others’ knowledge?
3 years old
understanding others’ knowledge study method
- watched 2 adults name familiar objects
- One adult named objects correctly and the other adult named the objects incorrectly
- Then, the child learned names for new objects
understanding others’ knowledge study results
children were more likely to learn a new word from an adult who previously named familiar objects correctly
understanding others’ knowledge study takeaway
this shows that 3-year-olds make judgments about others’ reliability
when do we begin to understand that specific people may have specific knowledge in certain areas
3-4 years old
understanding expertise study
- observed 2 strangers interacting with tools and broken toys
- Adult 1: knew the names of the tools but not how to fix the toys
- Adult 2: knew how to fix the toys, but not the names of the tools
understanding expertise study results
Children turned to different adults depending on what they wanted to achieve
implications of expertise for learning
- In general, kids view adults as experts and kids as non-experts
- Children are selective in whom they choose to learn from
when do we develop a rudimentary understanding of the beliefs leads to actions?
3 years old
how do 3-year-olds respond when asked why a person is acting a certain way?
they refer to beliefs
false-belief problems
Tasks that test a child’s understanding that other people will behave consistently with their knowledge/beliefs even if a child knows that these knowledge/beliefs are false
what children pass false-belief problems?
5-year-olds and older
what children fail false-belief problems?
3-year-olds
what do correct responses on false-belief problems indicate?
a developped theory of mind
the smarties task findings
- 3-year-olds fail: they incorrectly think that other children will know that there are pencils inside the box & say that they always knew that there were pencils in the box
- 5-year-olds pass: they correctly say that others will think there are Smarties inside the box
social cognition development timeline
- 6 months: understanding others’ action intentions
- 9-12 months: joint attention and imitation
- 1 year old: basic understanding of others’ desires and begin to understand the link between deisires and actions
- 1.5-2 years old: an explicit sense of self indicated by passing the Rouge test
- 2 years old: greater understanding that others’ desires can be different from one’s own
- 3 years old: sensitive to whether someone is knowledgeable in a topic or not & a basic understanding that beliefs lead to actions but fail at false-belief tests
- 5 years old: more fully developed theory of mind & pass false-belief tests
stability of social cognitive skills
- Children that are better able to understand goal-directed actions at 6 months also show better performance on false belief tasks at 4 years
- This suggests that individual differences in social cognitive skills are stable
3 ways for explaining developments in theory of mind
- nativist theory
- improvements in executive functioning
- contributions of social interactions
theory of mind navist model
innate brain mechanisms devoted to understanding other people that mature over the first 5 years
evidence for the nativist model of theory of mind
- Newborns have an inherent interest in faces
- Culturally universal developmental trajectory of theory of mind
- Temporoparietal junction and autism spectrum disorder
false-belief tasks around the world
Over countries, most 3-year-olds fail (14% pass rate) and most 5-year-olds pass (85%) false belief tasks
tempoparietal junction (TPJ)
A brain area that is consistently active across different theories of mind tasks
theory of mind in children with ASD
- Children with ASD struggle with the theory of mind
- They find false-belief tasks very difficult even as teenagers
TPJ in children with ASD
Children with ASD have atypical sizes and activity in TPJ
executive functioning
a set of cognitive processes that enable cognitive control of behaviour, such as planning, focused attention, and juggling multiple tasks
what is needed for false belief tasks?
executive functioning
executive functioning vs. theory of mind
Evidence that as executive functioning improves, so does the theory of mind (r = 0.4)
implications of executive functioning and theory of mind research
individual differences in executive functioning are responsible for individual differences in the theory of mind
theory of mind and social interactions
Interactions with other people are critical for the development of the theory of mind
evidence for social interaction and theory of mind
- Caregivers’ use of mental state talk is correlated with preschoolers’ theory of mind abilities
- Preschoolers who have siblings (vs. no siblings) are better at theory of mind tasks (especially if the sibling is of a different gender)
Mental state talk
statements and questions that refer to other people’s minds using words such as think, know, and want
implications of social interactions and theory of mind
caregivers can foster children’s social cognition by:
- Using mental state talk
- Providing opportunities for interactions with different people
- Encouraging joint attention
how does theory of mind develop?
All of these explanations likely play a role:
- Maturation of brain regions in understanding others
- Improved executive functioning ability
- Interactions with other people
how do children learn?
- Trial and error (from birth)
- Statistical learning (from birth)
- Observation and imitation (9-12 months old)
- Being taught by others (3-year-olds are more likely to learn from adults they see as reliable and expert in a domain)
what studies use the preferential-looking paradigm
- 2 intermodal perception studies
- visual acuity paddle study
- face perception study
what studies use the violation of the expectation paradigm?
- solid objects (drawbridge study)
- understanding action intentions study (doll vs. ball)
- gravity study
- understanding others’ desires study (kittens)
