Lecture 7 Flashcards
What is Theory of Mind?
An individual’s understanding of their own mind and other minds as well, and that that influences how we behave
Does someone with Theory of Mind understand people will act on false beliefs?
Yes
Define metacognition
The ability to think about your own thinking
When does Piaget say kids develop TOM based off the 3 mountains task? When do children actually demonstrate TOM?
Piaget said 7 yrs, but modern evidence points towards a consistent understanding at 4 yrs old and some preliminary TOM before that in some kids.
What is the example of the modified false belief task? What ages respond correctly?
Uses dolls to represent experiment with hidden balls. Some 2 years olds and most 3 year olds are correct
How much do overall language abilities affect the variance in false belief task performance?
17-18%
What maternal language experiences improve children’s performance on false belief tasks?
Narratives including lots of information on psychological motives
What is the correlation between hearing-impairment, their parents and TOM?
Hearing-impaired children with hearing parents struggle with TOM, whereas with similar parents the development is normal.
What is the correlation between large families and TOM?
Larger family children score better on TOM tests
What characteristics are strong TOM tests correlated with?
TOM correlated with more prosocial behaviour, stronger for girls and older than 6 vs before, TOM also correlated with popularity amongst peers
What is self-concept?
Set of attributes that one uses to define themselves
When does self-concept develop?
Preschool years
What does self-concept influence and what is its development influenced by?
It influences their interaction with others (fighting over toys) and is affected by cognitive development
What is the difference between early and later self-concept
Early: What they like and own
Late: focus on personality characteristics
When does self-esteem develop?
It begins to develop at age 4
