Wk 10 - Intentionality

Question 1

Dunbar (1992,95) Plotted numerous factors that could potentially relate to neocortex ratio, like…(x3)
But found a linear relationship only with…(x1)

Answer 1

Fruit in diet
Size of range
Type of foraging - skilled/unskilled/specialised extractive foraging, non-extractive
Group size

Question 2

Dunbar (2003) concluded that when ability to maintain group size is at selective optimum…(x2)

Answer 2

Whole brain size increase may be necessary in order to support the large social group
Very clear causal theory – expansion was necessary for coping with increasing social connections, not other way round

Question 3

Dunbar refers to gossip as…(x1)
Arguing that…(x2)
And that therefor, new ecological skills may have been the outcome of…(x1)

Answer 3

Modern grooming
Gossip increases social cohesion, requires keeping in mind many different things
This complex cognition is driver of brain size
Opportunity provided by increase in general intelligence generated by social requirements - potentially the move of mirror system from motor to social?

Question 4

Theory of mind has been posited as one of the drivers of the move into…(x1)
Because it allows us to…(x2)

Answer 4

Cumulative culture
Begin to be able to conceptualise another’s mind, and explain their behaviour through such understanding rather than external behaviours
And therefor shape our behaviour on others’ rather than making it up as we go along

Question 5

ToM is commonly measured through false belief tasks, such as…(x2)
Finding that….(x2)
Because younger kids don’t…(x1)

Answer 5

Goat puts ball in one container, monkey gets it out, puts it in another
Test is whether kid keeps track
Around 4-5 yo kids answer questions correctly
Younger than that, they get control questions correct, but not where the the animal will look for the ball -
Understand that others don’t know the same info as them

Question 6

The surprise contents task is a type of false belief task, involving, eg (x2)
Finding…(x2)
Because young kids can’t…(x1)

Answer 6

Bandaid box, but with pencils inside - show the kid this
Then ask what’s inside –
Thinks that she always thought there were pencils inside
Most 3yo will say the monkey will also think pencils –
Imagine monkey doesn’t know what she does

Question 7

Wellman, Cross and Watson (2001) conducted a met-analysis of false belief tasks involving…(x2)
Finding…(x3)

Answer 7

150 studies, with 600 false belief conditions and task variations
Clear shift from 2-3 yo, to 5-6yo
Cross-cultural shows some variation, but not very big
No other animal can pass false belief tasks – inference that they don’t have TOM

Question 8

Comparisons of mean group size and individual societies by Dunbar have concluded that…(x3)

Answer 8

Camps increase in size, until
They become clans
But when clan reaches about 150,
It breaks up into new ones that form part of tribe

Question 9

Aiello and Dunbar (1993) compared grooming time and group size across past 3.5 million years, finding that…(x4)

Answer 9

Group size fairly stable through much of history, into H erectus period
Rapid expansion from neanderthalensis
Almost identical distribution for grooming time/time spent on relationships - grows with group size
And for growth of capacity for intentionality/thinking about mental lives of others

Question 10

Intention is not Tom in itself, but is a critical component because it…(x2)
ie we make judgments about…(x1)

Answer 10

Provides the foundation for ToM
Provides interpretive matrix for deciding what others are doing
Others’ behaviour based on the intent behind it

Question 11

Intentions require what three essential components

Answer 11

Reference value or goal - what are they trying to do?
Ability to act in order to change the environment
Ability to perceive the environment so as to know when it matches the goal

Question 12

We interpret the nature and intention of others’ behaviour through …(x1)
By processing the…(x5 plus egs)

Answer 12

Attending to people's reactions to the outcomes of their actions
Goal - open box, 
Decision - the means/plan, 
Intention - carry out the plan, 
Result - of actions, 
Reaction - happy/sad to success/failure

Question 13

Studies of intention interpretation often involve either…(x1 plus eg)
Or…(x2)

Answer 13

Violation of expectation paradigms,
Train track down the hill and rolls, violation is when train should have run into a block, but comes out the other side
Infants look longer/show surprise to violation
Habituation to a process, then dishabituate to a change of sequence

Question 14

Woodward (1998) tested children’s understanding of animate actions, in habituation study involving/finding…(x4)
Leading to conclusions that…(x3)

Answer 14

Bear and ball on podiums
Actor starts by reaching the ball - infants habituate to this
They don’t dishabituate to reaching for ball swapped to other podium, but
Will to the bear on either
6mo may see human action as goal directed, but
Possible it’s object-directed
Not full intentionality, but minimally, 6mo expects consistent interactions over short time span

Question 15

Gergely (1995) Tested infants understanding of the pursuit of goals, in study involving…

Answer 15

Clip with column in centre, with a ball goes back and forth, then jumps over
Watch it till no reaction - habituation
Then barrier removed, ball straight through, or jumping over in space
Don’t dishabituate to going straight – no need for ball to jump
9-12 mo, but not 6mo, dishabituate to jumping – it’s an odd behaviour, so is new and novel

Question 16

Tomasello and Haberl (2003) tested ToM in 12 and 18 mo, in study involving…(x4)
Finding…(x1)

Answer 16

Kid plays with 2 objects
One E leaves room
Kid gets third object
Kids want to play with unseen toys, assume others want to do the same
When E returns, ask for one of toys (doesn’t specify which)
If TOM is present, they will give E the toy they’ve not seen yet

Question 17

Summarise the ages at which children begin to understand various aspects of intentional behaviour (x3 plus eg research/er)

Answer 17

6mo can perceive animate action which can provide a basis for predicting actions in familiar contexts - eg Woodward’s habituation/expecations tests
9mo can understand that people have goals and persist until their goal is reached - Gergely’s jumping ball expectations test
12- to 14mo understand full-fledged intentional action - eg Meltzoffs intentional imitation dumbell tests

Question 18

Based onour understandings of the develpoment of intentionality, we can conclude that 1yo use…(x2)
But it’s not…(x2)

Answer 18

Newly emerging skills of intention understanding not only to predict what others will do, but
Also to learn from them how to do things conventionally in their culture
Just a matter of what others are doing, but we need more…
Like shared intentionality

Question 19

Shared intentionality is…(x1),
Arises when…(x1)
And is important for, eg (x1)

Answer 19

Collaborative interactions involving a shared goal and coordinated action roles for pursuing it
When individuals who understand one another as intentional agents interact socially
Developing new technologies

Question 20

Bratman’s(1992) three criteria of shared intentionality

Answer 20

Interactants are mutually responsive to one another
There is a shared goal - each participant has the goal that we do X together
Ps coordinate their plans of action and intentions some way down the hierarchy -
Which requires that both understand both roles

Question 21

Three types of interactions that fall under the umbrella of joint intentionality

Answer 21

Dyadic engagement - two people working together
Triadic engagement - two people, one object
Collaborative engagement - working together for an achievement

Question 22

Infants show early sensitivity to dyadic engagement, in that…(x3)

Answer 22

By the second month, they
Focus their attention on the internal features of the face, and
Reciprocate in the context of face-to-face interactions

Question 23

The still-face paradigm measures infants…(x1)
By…(x2)
Which finds that…(x1)

Answer 23

Sensitivity to dyadic engagement
Infants engage for several minutes in a normal face-to-face interaction with an adult social partner, then
Adult suddenly holds a neutral still face
By 2mo, infants react to the still face with reduced smiling and gazing, plus increased self-comforting

Question 24

Murray and Trevarthen (1985) attempted to overcome infants upset at the loss of social contact during dyadic engagement testing, by…(x1)
Finding…(x1)
Concluding…(x1)

Answer 24

Presented 6-12 week olds with either live video of their mother, or a replay of her interacting.
Responded with more positive behavior such as gazing and smiling in the live compared to the replay period
They are sensitive to the social nature of the interaction, and its contingencies

Question 25

Triadic engagement is often referred to as…(x1)

And depends upon having a…(x1)

Answer 25

Joint attention

Shared goal

Question 26

Triadic engagement requires that infants…(x4)

All of which emerge during..(x1)

Answer 26

Begin to flexibly and reliably look where adults are looking
Understand what others do and don’t see
Use adults as social reference points
Act on objects the way they have seen adults act on them
First year of life

Question 27

Hare et al (2000) looke at whether chimps have the capacity for ToM/triadic engagement in a study involving/finding…(x4)

Answer 27

First, sub chimp doesn’t go for banana when dom is around, but
If sub knows the dominant one can’t see the banana get hidden, will swipe it
Next, both see it get hidden, but only sub sees it get moved – swipes it
So they know what other can and can’t see, and what they saw a moment ago

Question 28

Jane Goodall argues that chimps clearly have…(x1)
Because…(x1)
But…(x1)

Answer 28

ToM
They can tell the needs of other chimps, and humans
No strong experimental evidence beyond rudimentary - they know seeing leads to knowing

Question 29

Call et al (2004) Conducted a study into whether chimps could understand human intentions/have ToM, in a study involving…(x3)
Finding..(x1)

Answer 29

E acting as if they’re unwilling, or
Unable, to give the food to the chimp -
Different reasons for lack of success
Chimps gestured more and left the test area earlier when the human was unwilling than when unable

Question 30

Call and Tomasello (1998) tested ape understanding of intentions/knowledge in a study involving…

Answer 30

5 orangutans and 5 chimps
Humans/apparatus dropping/placing a marker on top of bucket, to indicate presence of food underneath
More likely to find the food when dropped there by human, than by apparatus

Question 31

Buttelmann et al (2007) studies rational imitation in chimps, in study involving…(x1)
Finding…(x1)
Which suggests that chimps have…(x1)

Answer 31

Similar to Gergely’s ‘using head to switch on light’ study, and others
More likely to use head in hands free condition, than when hands occupied with blanket
ToM-like capacities, but…

Question 32

Carpenter et al (1995) provide evidence of the split between human and children triadic engagement/ToM in study involving…(x1)
Finding…(x3)
Leading to the conclusion that…(x1)

Answer 32

18mo children and chimpanzees, human adult and objects
Both species interacted with objects and simultaneously monitored the adult’s behavior
But …
The children spent more time in JA episodes
And their looks to the face were twice as long
Maybe (chimp) checking v (human) sharing looks

Question 33

Systematic observations of chimpanzee mothers and infants with objects reveals…(x2)
And therefor misses the basis for…(x1)

Answer 33

Very little triadic engagement
And none that appears to involve a shared goal
Intentionality that are found in children

Question 34

The goal of pointing is solely to…(x1)
And requires that…(x1)
There are which two types of pointing?
Which infants use in social referencing by what age?

Answer 34

Communicate
Individual understands it as a cooperative communicative act (ie helps by informing)
Protoimperative gestures - give it to me
Protodeclarative gestures - hey look
About 12mo

Question 35

Liszkowski et al (2004) tested infant capacity for pointing in study involving…(x3)
Finding…(x1)

Answer 35

12 and 18mo kids watching boring task,
eg stapling bits of paper together
E leaves, second moves the stapler to a pillar to the side
When E comes back, kid immediately points to stapler

Question 36

Herrman and Tomasello compared ape and kids use of gestures in cooperative and competitive environments, in a study involving…(x4)
Finding that chimps…(x2)
While with kids…(x2)

Answer 36

Hiding food in one of two places, chimp needs to find
E1 or E2 forms cooperative or competitive relationship, by giving/stealing food
Then E1 is cooperative - positive tone, points to food
E2 competitive - negative, turns away
Chimps with cooperative E, do no better than chance – they don’t take info of helping on board
With competitive E, they go to the right spot for food
With kids, they find by 24mo, kids can accurately use cooperative info, but also obey E in the prohibiting condition

Question 37

Warneken and Tomasello (2006) conducted a study into children’s and chimps helping behaviour, in study involving…(x1)
Finding…(x3)

Answer 37

E can’t reach dropped peg without letting go of clothing
18mo straight away responds by fetching peg
Chimp plays with item for a while first, then decides they don’t want it and finally hand it over
14mo replication shows same pattern

Question 38

Tomasello et al (2008) has concluded that infant capacities for engagement change in what pattern over first year of life? (x3)

Answer 38

Understanding animate action (looking) at 3mo - dyadic, sharing emotion and behaviour
Understanding pursuit of goals (seeing) at 9mo - triadic, shared goals and perceptions
Understanding choice of plans (attending) at 14mo - collaborative, joint intention and attention
All driven by a motivation to share psychological states – we’re built for it

Question 39

Shared intentionality contributes to the creation of culture in that…(x5)

Answer 39

Humans strongly motivated to share emotional states from very early age
Infants express motivations for sharing goals and perceptions with others by 1yo
12-14mo infants form joint intentions and engage in joint attention
Not only about constructing a shared goal - also establishing mutually supportive roles
By formulating joint goals and intentions young kids are actively engaged in cultural creation