Understanding Other Minds

Question 1

What is theory of mind (ToM)?

1) The ability to predict others’ actions based on observed behaviour
2) The ability to attribute mental states like beliefs, desires, and intentions to oneself and others
3) Understanding the moral and ethical perspectives of others
4) The capacity for abstract reasoning about social situations

Answer 1

The ability to attribute mental states like beliefs, desires, and intentions to oneself and others

Question 2

Why is theory of mind considered a core feature of social cognition?

1) It helps identify innate genetic traits
2) It enables effective communication, empathy, and deception
3) It develops universally by age 2
4) It focuses solely on understanding moral reasoning

Answer 2

It enables effective communication, empathy, and deception

Question 3

What have studies on non-human primates shown about theory of mind?

1) They lack the ability to infer mental states in others
2) They use visual perspective-taking to guide competitive behaviours
3) They show advanced understanding of false beliefs
4) Their ToM abilities are identical to those of humans

Answer 3

They use visual perspective-taking to guide competitive behaviours

Question 4

What behaviour in Western scrub-jays suggests ToM capabilities?

1) Understanding of false beliefs
2) Re-caching food based on whether they were observed
3) Predicting dominance in social groups
4) Following complex verbal instructions

Answer 4

Re-caching food based on whether they were observed

Question 5

What distinguishes true belief from false belief understanding in theory of mind?

1) True belief involves aligning others’ beliefs with reality
2) False belief involves recognizing that others’ beliefs can differ from one’s own
3) False belief relies solely on observable behaviour
4) True belief is not a developmental milestone

Answer 5

False belief involves recognizing that others’ beliefs can differ from one’s own

Question 6

What is the unexpected transfer test (Wimmer & Perner, 1983)?

1) A task measuring moral reasoning in young children
2) A test assessing a child’s understanding of object permanence
3) A method to assess whether children understand false beliefs
4) An implicit measure of social understanding

Answer 6

A method to assess whether children understand false beliefs

Question 7

At what age do most children pass false belief tasks like the unexpected transfer test?

1) 2-3 years
2) 3-4 years
3) 5-6 years
4) 7-8 years

Answer 7

5-6 years

Question 8

What finding did the deceptive box test reveal about 3-year-olds?

1) They consistently pass the task with the mailing procedure
2) They fail to recognize their prior beliefs about the box contents
3) They outperform older children in false belief tasks
4) They easily differentiate between true and false beliefs

Answer 8

They fail to recognize their prior beliefs about the box contents

Question 9

What is an example of an implicit measure of theory of mind?

1) Unexpected transfer test
2) Deceptive box test
3) Unexpected preference test
4) True belief tasks

Answer 9

Unexpected preference test

Question 10

What did Rubio-Fernandez & Geurts (2013) find improved 3-year-olds’ performance in ToM tasks?

1) Reducing the protagonist’s cognitive load by keeping them in the room
2) Increasing the complexity of the false belief tasks
3) Adding additional distractions to the task
4) Using verbal instructions instead of actions

Answer 10

Reducing the protagonist’s cognitive load by keeping them in the room

Question 11

What is the relationship between family size and ToM development?

1) Single children perform better on ToM tasks
2) Children with more siblings, especially older ones, perform better on ToM tasks
3) Family size has no measurable impact on ToM development
4) Children in nuclear families outperform those in extended families

Answer 11

Children with more siblings, especially older ones, perform better on ToM tasks

Question 12

How does culture influence theory of mind development?

1) The sequence of ToM development differs across cultures
2) Cultural factors only affect explicit ToM tasks
3) Universal ToM development occurs, but the timing varies
4) ToM is unaffected by cultural or environmental factors

Answer 12

Universal ToM development occurs, but the timing varies

Question 13

What role do parents play in ToM development, according to Dunn et al. (1991)?

1) Providing direct instruction on false belief tasks
2) Explaining psychological causality improves children’s ToM
3) Limiting exposure to social interactions
4) Encouraging sibling rivalry

Answer 13

Explaining psychological causality improves children’s ToM

Question 14

What do studies on deception suggest about ToM in young children?

1) Children lack the ability to deceive until age 6
2) Deceptive behaviours indicate an understanding of other minds
3) Deceptive behaviours are unrelated to ToM development
4) Deception requires explicit reasoning about social norms

Answer 14

Deceptive behaviours indicate an understanding of other minds

Question 15

What did Wellman, Cross & Watson’s (2001) meta-analysis conclude about ToM?

1) ToM develops steadily from birth
2) ToM performance improves abruptly around age 4
3) Explicit tasks are better predictors of ToM than implicit tasks
4) ToM development is largely influenced by genetic factors

Answer 15

ToM performance improves abruptly around age 4

Question 16

How do single-parent households affect ToM development?

1) They are associated with poorer ToM performance
2) They have no measurable impact on ToM
3) They enhance children’s understanding of false beliefs
4) They improve implicit ToM task performance

Answer 16

They are associated with poorer ToM performance

Question 17

What do findings from the preference test indicate about ToM?

1) 14-month-olds recognize others’ preferences, but 18-month-olds do not
2) 18-month-olds understand others’ preferences, but 14-month-olds do not
3) Both 14- and 18-month-olds fail to infer others’ preferences
4) Preferences do not influence ToM development

Answer 17

18-month-olds understand others’ preferences, but 14-month-olds do not

Question 18

What is the primary criticism of early false belief tasks?

1) They underestimate children’s cognitive capabilities due to high task demands
2) They overestimate the role of family size in ToM development
3) They fail to distinguish between true and false beliefs
4) They neglect cultural influences on ToM

Answer 18

They underestimate children’s cognitive capabilities due to high task demands

Question 19

What do studies on extended families suggest about ToM?

1) Extended families hinder ToM development due to competing interests
2) Children in extended families show developmental advantages in ToM
3) ToM development is slower in extended families compared to nuclear families
4) Family structure has no measurable impact on ToM

Answer 19

Children in extended families show developmental advantages in ToM

Question 20

What is the significance of deception in ToM development?

1) It demonstrates understanding of social rules but not mental states
2) It indicates children’s ability to attribute mental states to others
3) It is unrelated to other aspects of ToM
4) It primarily relies on explicit verbal reasoning

Answer 20

It indicates children’s ability to attribute mental states to others