Theory of Mind Flashcards
What is Theory of Mind?
An individual’s understanding of mental states, both their own and those of others. It encompasses the ability to recognize that people have different thoughts, beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives and that these mental states can influence their actions
What are the prerequisite skills of Theory of Mind?
Ability to view others b behaviour as intentional
Ability to take another perspective
What is understanding of desire?
-By 5 months, infants show understanding of desire
-Infants do not show an explicit understanding of others’ desires until 18 months
What is understanding goals?
-By 14-18 months: More apt to imitate an intentional than accidental behaviour
-Understandong how people act with purpose, not just randomly
What is content false belief?
Box of smarties with pencils
-without theory of mind, the child will say they think their friend will think there is pencils in the box because they know there is pencils in the box
What is the location false belief task?
sally anne task
What is dual representation?
Failure to represent both the current location and the previous location at the same time
What is poor executive function skill?
Difficulty in inhibatory control
-Its hard for them to withhold what is most obvious to them
What are sources of error in TOM task?
Dual representation
poor executive function skill
What are factors that predict performance on TOM tasks?
Presence of older siblings
Language skills
maternal warmth
quality of attachment
number of adults children regularly interact with
What are prosocial lies?
Deceptive statements that are told with the intention of benefiting others or protecting their feelings
Reverse rogue test
In this test, a child is asked to take a picture of an adult with a smudge on their nose. The adult asks the child if they look okay before the picture is taken. Every young child will often tell a white lie, saying the adult looks fine to avoid embarrassing them
What are lies to hold transgressions?
Deceptive statements told to conceal a wrongdoing or avoid negative consequences
What is the temptation resistance paradigm?
-Sytaudys a childs lying behaviour
Seated facing away from a table. The rersearcher places toys on the table and makes a noise (A dog, bark). The child has to guess. Places a random object with a random noise then leaves the room. Most children peeked.
Looks at how many children lied about the obejct they saw
What is the fist order of theory of mind?
The ability to understand that other people have beliefs that can be different from ones own that those beleifs, even if false, can guide their actions.
-emerges around 4 years of age
