Theory of Mind (ToM)

Question 1

TOM

Answer 1

PREMACK & WOODRUFF (1978)
- “… an individual has ToM if they impute mental states to themselves and others…”
SIMON BARON-COHEN
- “… quintessential ability that makes us human…”
- purpose VS intention
- doubt/guessing/pretending/liking

Question 2

WHY ONLY A THEORY?

Answer 2

• mental states aren’t directly observable

- predictions can be made about behaviour

Question 3

TOM STUDY

Answer 3

PREMACK & WOODRUFF (1978)

• Sarah (14m chimp); shown video of problem ie. human trying to reach banana out of reach
• given 2 solution photos (correct/incorrect) ie. stick
• correct 21/24 trials (88%)

Question 4

THE HUMAN

Answer 4

• more than instinct; exchange of ideas
• coordinate efforts
• learning from each other
• “meeting of the minds”

Question 5

PRE-OPERATIONALISM

Answer 5

PIAGET’S PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE (2-7y)

• advanced problem solving
• egocentrism
• animism

Question 6

EGOCENTRISM

Answer 6

• tendency to view the world exclusively from one’s own POV
  THREE MOUNTAINS
• child asked to choose from pictures the view that the doll would see
• 4-5y usually select the view they see themselves

Question 7

EARLY ATTUNEMENT TO THE MINDS OF OTHERS

Answer 7

• connection is present early; parents sense new-borns desires/needs/feelings/temperament
• rapidly cemented relationship
• joint attention/play/cooperation
• pretend play/fantasy

Question 8

TOM MEASUREMENT

Answer 8

DENNET (1978)

• “… it’s not enough to predict others’ actions; actions can often be predicted based on the world state…”
• false belief tests/falsification (ie. thinking probably all swans are white until you see a black one and KNOW not all swans are white/Sally and Anne test)

Question 9

MENTAL SIMULATION

Answer 9

GOPNIK & ASTINGTON (1988)

• stimulating what one might think in order to understand what others think requires reflective access to ones own state of mind
• aka. metacognition

Question 10

TOM EMERGENCE

Answer 10

EARLY STUDIES
- Chocolate Test (WIMMER & PERNER (1983))
- The Deceptive Box Test (PERNER et al (1987); GOPNIK (1993))
CROSS-CULTURAL EVIDENCE
- Baka children (AVIS & HARRIS (1991))
META-ANALYSIS
- White matter saturation (3-4y) via ToM (WIESMANN et al (2017))
- Falsifiability via age (WELLMANN (2001))
LONGITUDINAL DATA
- Falsifiability increases w/age (AMSTERLAW & WELLMAN (2006))

Question 11

IS THERE A DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE?

Answer 11

• ToM = 3-5y; question of radical shift
• fits theory concept; some are revolutionary/suddenly impactful ie. Kuhn’s paradigm shift
• 4y = variable performance though binary test makes it seem “step-like”

Question 12

INFANT FALSIFIABILITY

Answer 12

ONISHI & BAILLARGEON (2005)

• violation of expectation task via hidden watermelon toy; actors had both false/true beliefs about location
• kids obvs weren’t asked; eye-tracking used
• +15m passed

Question 13

CONTINUITY HYPOTHESIS

Answer 13

SODIAN et al (2020)

- conceptual continuity from implicit/explicit ToM from early years throughout middle childhood

Question 14

FALSIFIABILITY DISCREPANCY

Answer 14

TOMASELLO

• controversy of when kids understand falsifiability as dif experiments = dif results
• paper integrates theory and data arguing that kids don’t assume others thoughts alone; come to understanding via types of social/communicative interactions w/others requiring them to compare respective perspectives

Question 15

ROLE OF THE SIBLING

Answer 15

• siblings can be arguably advantage/impediment
  + = more opportunities to get the mind; greater need to understand complex POVs; second order beliefs
• = kids learn ToM best via parental explanations; not enough “teaching” in bigger family?
  ZAJONC (1983)
• singletons = higher IQ than kids w/multiple siblings
• first > second > third

Question 16

ROLE OF THE SIBLING EXAMPLES

Answer 16

PERNER (1994)
- 3ys w/siblings pass false belief > 3y singletons
JENKINS & ASTINGTON (1996)
- beneficial effect for older siblings only
LEWIS et al (1996)
- cross-cultural w/Greek families; replicated effect
- larger fams more extended so more interactions of adults w/kids; important “teaching”

Question 17

ROLE OF THE PARENT

Answer 17

DUNN et al (1991)

• 33m infants w/mother interactions; parents give narratives of scenarios; SOME included mental states of characters
• 6m later; children given mental states more likely to pass falsifiability test
• mind-minded parents may explain this (LEWIS et al (1996))

Question 18

AUTISM

Answer 18

STEPHEN SHORE
- “… if you’ve ever met an individual with autism, you’ve met one individual with autism…”; it’s a huge, unique spectrum; no set rules
- many famous historical figures may have been on the autism spectrum (ie. Einstein, Yeats, Fischer, Newton)
HANS ASPERGER
- “… it seems that for success in science or art, a dash of autism is essential…”

Question 19

THE PURPOSE OF TOM

Answer 19

• “sensing” how people are feeling to allow us according action
• understanding psychological state causation to grant access to wider conscious experience