Task 7: Theory of Mind Flashcards
Theory of mind
Understanding other people as people who have desires, beliefs and their own interpretations of the world and that it can differ from ours.
- understanding this helps us make sense of what others say and how they act
Mental representations of the world
persons’s set of beliefs about the world
False belief
incorrect belief in comparison to reality
False belief task
Children hear a story about a boy that puts chocolate in a ‘blue’ cupboard and while he was out of the room, his mother puts it in a ‘green’ cupboard. Then, they are asked to predict where he would look for the chocolate when back into room.
Sally-Anne Task
Simpler version of false-belief task, in which children are shown two dolls, Sally and Anne. The former puts marble in her basket and leaves and while she is absent, Anne takes the marble and puts it in the box. Then Sally returns, and children are asked where she would look for her marble.
Why is the Sally Anne task better?
results are not biased by length of story and amount of information to memorize
At what ages do children succeed in false belief tasks?
- if story features are more salient and the story is shorter, 4 year old’s could succeed
- 3 year old’s always fail
Smarties task
Children are shown closed box of Smarties and asked to say what is inside, which is actually pencils. Children are then asked to predict what another child would say there is inside. The correct answer is ‘sweets’ (3 year olds fail and 4 year olds pass)
Distinguishing mental states in language
- from age 2
- by age 3
From age of 2 – Children use words that refer to internal states of perception or emotion, such as ‘see’ and ‘want’.
By age of 3 – Children use cognitive terms, such as ‘know’, ‘think’ and ‘remember’. They can distinguish between mental states and external reality (physical).
Understanding the relationships between seeing and knowing
(from age 2) + demonstration
Children understand relationship between seeing and knowing.
Demonstration – They were asked to show another person a picture inside bottom of a box. They realized the need to angle the box so that another person could see inside.
Understanding the relationships between seeing and knowing
(by age of 3) + demonstration
Children understand that different people can have different view of same object.
- Demonstration: card with a cat drawn on one side a dog on the other was placed with one side facing child and the other, the experimenter. Children were asked what each person could see.
- > Results show that they understand that different people have different knowledge about world and that some may have less complete knowledge than others.
Understanding the relationships between seeing and knowing
(at about age 4) + demonstration
Children realize that people may have different views of object that is equally visible to both.
- Demonstration: Child is sitting opposite the experimenter and between them, there is a picture, placed flat, of side view of a turtle. Children were asked which of two views they saw (either ‘standing on its feet’ or ‘upside down’) and which the experimenter saw.
- Only at age 4 were they able to understand that their view and that of experimenter’s were different
Understanding appearance-reality distinction
- > demonstration
- > 3 vs 4 year old
Young children have difficulty in tasks that involve distinguishing appearance and reality.
-Demonstration: Children were shown sponge that looks like rock. From a distance it was seen as rock and when they could feel it, they discovered it was a sponge. They were asked ‘what does it look like?’ and ‘what is it really?’
- 3 year olds only consider one interpretation
- 4 year olds understand one interpretation is false hence the difference between true and flase beliefs
Predicting behaviour
- age 2
- age 3
- Age of 2: understand that people have desires, and these can influence the way they behave
- Age of 3: Children understand that people have beliefs about world, in addition to desires
From what age do children understand that people’s behaviour may be based on incorrect assumptions about the world?
from age 4
Name and explain 3 factors that influence when children succeed on false belief tasks
- Language ability – Development of theory of mind is related to language development.
- Siblings – Between 2 and 4 years, child-child interaction increases. Children talk more about beliefs with siblings and friends than with mothers;
- Family size – Children that interact with older children and adults have better chance of developing theory of mind skills at earlier age.
When do children gain an understanding of false belief?
between the age of 4 and 5
At age __ children realize that emotional responses are also based on person’s representation
-> give demonstration
age 5
-> A character named Ellie only likes to drink Coke. She was given can of Coke with, unknown to her, milk in it. Children were asked how she would feel when given the can of Coke, and before she drinks it.
What is needed to understand surprise?
an understanding of false beliefs, that representation of world is going to be dis-confirmed and how to deceive (i.e. plant false belief in someone’s mind)
At what age do children learn how to deceive?
age 5
False belief tasks involve… x 2
1 first order belief
2 second order belief
First order belief
One that involves having a belief about someone having a belief (I think that she thinks that…)
Second order belief
Second order belief – One that involves understanding that someone can have beliefs about a third person (I think that she thinks, that he thinks that…).
When is a second order belief achieved and what does this show?
after age 8 therefore showing that it takes some years before they are fully aware that mind is always an interpreter of reality
Welman’s theory about development of understanding the mind
Develops in three phases:
- Age of 2: Children assume that people’s desires influence behavior.
- Age of 3: They consider a person’s desires and beliefs about world
- Age of 4: Children acknowledge that beliefs can also have inaccurate interpretations.
