SED Task 5. Theory of mind
Learning goals:
1. How does TOM develop?
2. How can you measure it?
3. Explain the theories of TOM.
4. What is the role of mirror neurons in TOM?
5. What is the link between Moebius syndrome and TOM?
Wellman
Theory of mind: social cognition is founded on an understanding of ourselves and others in
terms of our inner mental, psychological states.
A mentalistic understanding of persons emerges rapidly in most children and develops
throughout infancy and maturity. Used to be underrated (Piaget) because they only used
verbal methods. Evidence concerning children’s understanding of the physiological world is
most abundant for 3-5y olds. Children as young as 3 can separate physical from mental.
False beliefs: when pencils in candy box, 4y olds can predict others will think it is candy.
False beliefs need a difference between contents of the mind and contents of the world; what
one thinks and what is actually true. From 4-5y, children are able t use info about what a
person perceives to predict what he or she knows or believes, and they can understand reality-
appearance distinctions. However, it is a continuous process and depends on the context.
Preschoolers (even at 18m) show an understanding of a person’s desires and emotions. at 2y,
they start having a subjective, psychological rather than objective, situational understanding
os desires and emotion. At 3y, they start to understand beliefs, thoughts and knowledge.
Between 2-5y, children use a network of mental-state constructs in concert to come to
sensible, coherent psychological understandings of persons’ lives, experiences and actions.
However, thre are individual differences. Children with siblings pass the false beliefs taska t
younger age, and experience with older people are associated with earlier understandings of
belief and mental representation. Before 2nd year, children begin with pretend play which
provides a context for learning about mental states that are contrary to reality. By 2-2.5y,
children show that they understand others’ pretense actions as not real, but they do not see the
mentalistic interpretation behind it. Also, differences in how families talk about feelings is
predictive of theur ability to identify and understand emotions, particularly their cause. These
psychological understandings emerge across all cultures and languages, but may differ in
onset.
From 3-5, children grasp something of the subjectivity, and thus diversity, of thoughts. From
7y on children seem to realize that it is impossible to have a mind completely empty of
thoughts. At this age, they become aware of the fact that people are thinking when engaged in
tasks that require cognition. They can infer another’s’ thoughts by assessing the situation.
Young children conceive of thoughts as isolated mental happenings. In middle childhood,
they come to see the mind as an active constructor of knowledge, as a processing center. They
now get that beliefs are interpretive. Also, during school years, they get increasingly
proficient at generating,, using and evaluating various strategies for accomplishing cognitive
tasks (strategies for memory and learning etc). they get more accurate at monitoring their own
feelings of knowing.
Learning goals:
1. How does TOM develop?
2. How can you measure it?
3. Explain the theories of TOM.
4. What is the role of mirror neurons in TOM?
5. What is the link between Moebius syndrome and TOM?
Wellman
Theory of mind: social cognition is founded on an understanding of ourselves and others in
terms of our inner mental, psychological states.
A mentalistic understanding of persons emerges rapidly in most children and develops
throughout infancy and maturity. Used to be underrated (Piaget) because they only used
verbal methods. Evidence concerning children’s understanding of the physiological world is
most abundant for 3-5y olds. Children as young as 3 can separate physical from mental.
False beliefs: when pencils in candy box, 4y olds can predict others will think it is candy.
False beliefs need a difference between contents of the mind and contents of the world; what
one thinks and what is actually true. From 4-5y, children are able t use info about what a
person perceives to predict what he or she knows or believes, and they can understand reality-
appearance distinctions. However, it is a continuous process and depends on the context.
Preschoolers (even at 18m) show an understanding of a person’s desires and emotions. at 2y,
they start having a subjective, psychological rather than objective, situational understanding
os desires and emotion. At 3y, they start to understand beliefs, thoughts and knowledge.
Between 2-5y, children use a network of mental-state constructs in concert to come to
sensible, coherent psychological understandings of persons’ lives, experiences and actions.
However, thre are individual differences. Children with siblings pass the false beliefs taska t
younger age, and experience with older people are associated with earlier understandings of
belief and mental representation. Before 2nd year, children begin with pretend play which
provides a context for learning about mental states that are contrary to reality. By 2-2.5y,
children show that they understand others’ pretense actions as not real, but they do not see the
mentalistic interpretation behind it. Also, differences in how families talk about feelings is
predictive of theur ability to identify and understand emotions, particularly their cause. These
psychological understandings emerge across all cultures and languages, but may differ in
onset.
From 3-5, children grasp something of the subjectivity, and thus diversity, of thoughts. From
7y on children seem to realize that it is impossible to have a mind completely empty of
thoughts. At this age, they become aware of the fact that people are thinking when engaged in
tasks that require cognition. They can infer another’s’ thoughts by assessing the situation.
Young children conceive of thoughts as isolated mental happenings. In middle childhood,
they come to see the mind as an active constructor of knowledge, as a processing center. They
now get that beliefs are interpretive. Also, during school years, they get increasingly
proficient at generating,, using and evaluating various strategies for accomplishing cognitive
tasks (strategies for memory and learning etc). they get more accurate at monitoring their own
feelings of knowing.
