ToM Flashcards
Theory of mind (ToM)
The insight that people hold mental states and that these govern behaviour
Mental states (inferred) – e.g. belief, desire, goals
Allow us to make sense of the social world
– to predict and explain people’s actions
due to their false belief to explain their irrational acting
Desire-based ToM
How are people’s desires changing?
People’s desires are idiosyncratic (personal to themselves) and constantly changing (at different age stages of their life)
Desire-based ToM
Do children understand that other people may have desires that differ from theirs?
Research found:
18 month olds understood experimenter’s desired food differed from theirs
but not 14 month olds
What does this suggest?
Suggests they understand that desire is:
a subjective mental state
that can differ from person to person at 18 months
What is the defninition of:
Distinction between mind and reality/ world
Person has a representation of the world, the contents of which may be quite different from the contents of the world itself or from our own beliefs
Belief-based ToM
Shift from a situation-based
to
representation-based understanding of behaviour
What shift is necessary in Belief-based ToM?
Shift from a situation-based
to
representation-based understanding of behaviour
Eg. behaviour based on a representation of reality =
I bring an umbrella because I thought it was going to rain, I was wrong it didn’t rain
How can we tell whether someone has a ToM?
False belief task - Standard for testing ToM
When testing ToM which task tests whether child can represent what another person believes in contrast to their own beliefs or reality?
False belief task
False belief task:
What are the 3 main pradigms?
Unexpected transfer task:
Max chocolate task, the Sally-Ann task
Deceptive box task:
Smarties task (psy books)
Which task:
Explains while Maxi is out playing, his Mum takes the chocolate from the cupboard and grates some of it into a cake. Maxi is returning from play, feeling hungry. He wants his chocolate.
Test Q: Where will Maxi look for his chocolate?
Memory Q: Where did Maxi put his chocolate?
Reality Q: Where did Mum put his chocolate
Children without false belief x : fridge/ random answer
Children with false belief ! : cupboard (right answer)
Unexpected transfer task
What were the results of the Unexpected transfer task:
Max chocolate task
> 5 yrs
Children 5 and over identified correct place (cupboard)
< 5 yrs
Younger children identified wrong place (fridge)
Reality question: Where did Mum put his chocolate?
showing an ego-centric bias response
Which task:
Involves the Sally-Ann task?
Unexpected transfer task
Why is a False belief task more useful than a True belief task?
True belief tasks test whether child can represent what another person believes when that belief matches their own beliefs or reality
whereas False belief tasks test true reasoning in a false context, representing their mental state from a false version of reality
Which task:
Involves children being asked
what is inside this tube? (guess)
What is in it? (see)
What will your friend say is inside? (predict)
In addition to a reflection
When you first saw this tube, before we opened it, what did you think was inside the smarties tube?
Findings?
Deceptive box task:
Smarties task
3-4yr olds had difficulty acknowledging false belief
- in others
- and own PRIOR false belief once know what is inside
On average with False Belief tasks:
3yr olds…
4yr olds…
3-year-old children usually fail FB tasks
4-year-old children usually pass FB tasks
Traditionally taken as evidence that around this time children ‘acquire’ a theory of mind. What does this mean?
Radical conceptual shift and stage-like development around 4 years
ToM revealed in natural conversation
What does this mean?
They think about mental states before they reach ToM
Mental state terms
Children may use mental state terminal thought to reflect previously false held belief
-May be something about the TASK that is underestimating childrens confidence
ToM in 3 year olds:
A lack of positive evidence doesn’t necessarily mean lack of competence, as there may be performance limitations masking children’s competence:
Name some of the problems that may occur during ToM false belief tasks for 3yr olds
Problem with language - focused on word where where is the chocolate
Made Test question more specific – “where will maxi look first of all?”
Story comprehension - checking follow on of the story
Simplifying the task improves performance but not dramatically!
Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001:
meta-analysis of 178 studies ToM in 3 year olds
Findings?
Support for substantial developmental effect/ trend over preschool years:
< 3.5yrs below chance > 4yrs above chance
Can see which modulations helped/ didn’t help
Which task variables make a difference in the ToM
Unexpected transfer task?
Improve performance:
Deceptive motive,
Active participation
Salience of mental state
Irrelevant:
Type of task/question,
Nature of protagonist/object
Wellman et al (2001) concluded that:
Although manipulating several variables improved performance,
ie-
Deceptive motive,
Active participation
Salience of mental state
, this was the case across all ages rather than just younger children
– so not selectively unmasking early competence
None of the variable manipulations improved performance of 3yrs above chance
Universality: Cross-cultural comparisons:
Despite leading very different lives children in industrialized and rural societies
both show a
similar developmental shift between 3 and 5 years
What are the 2 factors contributing to ToM development?
1- Role of social experience
2- Biological maturation
Which factor describes the aiding understanding of mental states which arises from interactions with other people when contributing to ToM development?
Role of social experience
Which factor describes children to expressing their understanding of mental states which arises from improvement in executive functioning when contributing to ToM development?
Biological maturation
