theory of mind

Question 1

define theory of mind

Answer 1

the human capacity to understand minds, made up of a collection of concepts and processes

Question 2

true or false: theory of mind is not a theory

Answer 2

true, it is a capacity. scholars label it as mentalizing or mindreading

Question 3

give an example of social interactions that rely on theory of mind

Answer 3

possible answers:
- teaching someone a new action/rule, understanding what the person doesnt know and how they will best understand
learning new language by observing how other people speak it
- guessing social standing by guessing what people think of you
- sharing experiences by telling them to a friend
- collaboration on tasks by sharing a goal and both trusting each other to reach it together

Question 4

ToM is limited in an individual with ________

Answer 4

autism

Question 5

What is on the bottom of the pyramid for tools of theory of mind?

Answer 5

Simple, automatic, early developing, evolutionary old processes
- identifying agents
-recognizing goals
assessing intentionality

Question 6

What is on the top of the pyramid of the tools of theory of mind?

Answer 6

complex, deliberate, late developing, evolutionary recent processes
- mental state inference

Question 7

What does the agent category do in the theory of mind pyramid?

Answer 7

allows humans to identify moving objects in the world that act on their own
shown through: following gaze or imitating

Question 8

What is the process of recognizing goals? What does it build on?

Answer 8

• builds on agent category (agents are directed towards goal objects> seek out, track then contact object)
• recognizing goals=understanding the predictability between agents pursuing object, tying also into intent

Question 9

How does intentionality fit in with the theory of mind pyramid? What do you need for something to be intentional?

Answer 9

• its complex, goals can be unintentional
• to act intentionally you need beliefs about how to achieve the goal not just the goal itself
• you also need skill to execute the intention

Question 10

order these groups from bottom of the ToM pyramid to top:
(imitation, mimicry, automatic empathy)
(Projection, simulation)
(identifying agents, recognizing goals, assessing information)
(mental state inference)
(joint attention, visual perspective taking)

Answer 10

Bottom: (identifying agents, recognizing goals, assessing information)
(imitation, mimicry, automatic empathy)
(joint attention, visual perspective taking)
(Projection, simulation)
top: (mental state inference)

Question 11

Define mimicry

Answer 11

copying other’s behaviours, usually without intent or awareness

Question 12

What state is reached when two people mutually mimic each other aka mutual mimicry?

Answer 12

Synchrony (two ppl displaying same behaviours or have same internal states)
- makes ppl enjoy the conversation more!

Question 13

What two types of information are linked tightly by brain mechanisms that make synchronizing possible?

Answer 13

Perceptual and motor information (i see you move your hands, i will move my hands)

Question 14

What are mirror neurons?

Answer 14

In monkey brains, they fire both when it sees and performs the same action.

Question 15

What is automatic empathy?

Answer 15

• social perceiver unwittingly taking on internal states of someone else
• usually caused by mimicking expressive behaviour and thus feeling the emotion too

Question 16

Define joint attention

Answer 16

two ppl paying attention to the same object, while being aware that they are both paying attention to it

Question 17

Why is shared engagement important for children to learn the meaning of objects?

Answer 17

value: is it safe/rewarding?
words that refer to it: what is this called?

Question 18

define visual perspective taking. how does it relate to effortful mental state inference?

Answer 18

• visual perspective taking: perceiving smth from some else’s spacial vantage point
• can relate to effortful mental state inference loosely (trying to infer another’s thoughts desires and emotions)

Question 19

What is the process of simulation? give an example

Answer 19

Representing an other person’s mental state
- using one’s own mental state as a model for other’s mental states
- ‘like me’ assumption
- ex. imagine sitting across from a police investigator, I would be so scared so they must be too

Question 20

define social projection

Answer 20

Perceivers assumption that the other person wants, knows or feels the same that the perceivers wants, knows, or feels
- can be negative as you make assumptions based on your background knowledge

Question 21

what two types of stored knowledge help to rely on when considering mental state inference?

Answer 21

general knowledge (ex anyone would be scared to come face to face with a bear)
agent specific knowledge (ex john is a hunter and has experience with bears)

Question 22

What is the false belief test?

Answer 22

experimental procedure that assesses whether a perceiver recognizes that another person has a false belief, one that contradicts reality
- difficult to children below 4

Question 23

In the pyramid what are concepts, what are effortful processes and what are automatic psychological processes?

Answer 23

concepts: agent, intentional action, fear
automatic psychological processes: imitation, joint attention and projection
effortful processes: simulation and mental state inference

Question 24

where is the mind-behaviour link very clear? what situation?

Answer 24

when people explain behaviour of others, trying to understand why others act the way they do

Question 25

What is easier to explain: intentional or unintentional behaviours?

Answer 25

unintentional ex tripping, having a headache

Question 26

what is needed in order for an agent to perform a behaviour intentionally?

Answer 26

must have:
- a desire for an outcome
- belief abt how actions will lead to the outcome
- intention to perform that action

Question 27

what makes an action intentional?

Answer 27

it is performed with awareness and skill

Question 28

An object that can move itself and work toward a goal is known as an ______

Answer 28

agent

Question 29

Tomas uses a lot of hand gestures when he speaks with Cathy. Soon, Cathy unknowingly begins to use a lot of hand gestures in their conversation, too. This phenomenon is known as _________

Answer 29

mimicry

Question 30

when do most ppl start developing ToM?

Answer 30

in the first year of life

Question 31

The false-belief test is a procedure for determining if a child has developed what?

Answer 31

explicit mental state inference