Understanding own and others minds Flashcards
what is a theory of mind?
- a person’s concept of mental activities; an understanding that other people possess mental states that involve ideas and views of the world that are different from our own
- in short, the knowledge that you have thoughts and others can think differently
explain the rouge test (self awareness test) (lewis & brooks-gunn, 1979)
- put a red mark on the baby’s forehead and place them in front of the mirror
- infant between 12-18 months are sociable with the mirror
- At 18 months they start to recognise themselves and notice the red dot
when can infants recognise that their desires are different from other people’s? (earliest theory of mind in children)
- 18 months old
- in a study, they have a bowl of broccoli and crackers and understand to give the broccoli to the adult (what they want) instead of what the infant would like.
what age do children start having the theory of mind?
average 3-4
explain appearance vs reality task
- ask the children what they think is in the Smarties tube - they say Smarties
- there are actually pencils in the box
- ask the children “what did you originally think was in the box” and “what would someone else think that was in the box”
- a lot of children would think there were pencils - they assume that other people have the same knowledge as them
explain the deception game task
- a more recent task used to test for theory of mind in younger children
- a child and a monkey are sat on the table and a child is told to pick a sticker and point to the sticker they want but the monkey gets to choose first
- the monkey keeps choosing the sticker they want
- children 4+ realise that they need to pick a one they don’t want so the monkey picks it
what are the factors that influence the theory of mind development?
- language
- cognitive abilities
- make-believe play
- social interaction
- nature vs nature
explain how language influence the theory of mind development
- must be able to understand ‘think’ and ‘know’ words about emotion and desires
- is aided by the use of words depicting mental states
- storytelling
explain how cognitive abilities influence the theory of mind development
- to understand reality and truth
- think of nothing - young children (under 5 ish) will think that they could think of nothing
explain how make believe play influence the theory of mind development
- emerges between 18-24 months
- gives rise to imaginary beliefs and empathy
- harris suggests that children are aware of their own mental states; in imagination - self-awareness, capacity for pretense, distinguishing reality from pretense, desires, beliefs, and emotions
explain how social interaction influences the theory of mind development
- family and parenting
- pre schoolers that have siblings tend to pass theory of mind quicker
where does theory of mind come from?
- it could be biologically programmed: baron-cohen believes that theory of mind is a product of evolution
- shared attention mechanism (knowledge of others develops 9-18 months)
- theory of mind mechanism (18-48 months - to discriminate intentions, beliefs and desires)
what are the problems testing theory of minds?
- the way a task is worded can have an impact on the child’s understanding, hence a difference in results might be found
- there is more to passing a false belief than the theory of mind
- they are difficult
- beliefs are supposed to be true, that is what they are for
what does it mean to have theory of mind?
understanding theory of mind helps a child to:
- lie
- predict others’ intentions
- understand death
- understand reality
- understand story books
- make friends
- use imagery play with friends
- develop a sense of ‘self’
- take the perspective of another
