theory of mind Flashcards
What is Premack and Woodruff’s definition of ToM?
‘imputing mental states to ourselves and others including purpose, intention, knowledge, beliefs and thinking’
What has been discovered about ToM in primates?
Sarah- 14 year old chimpanzee presented with a videotape of problems and solutions, was correct on 21/24 trials suggesting cognitive capacity
What is the false belief task?
A way to measure ToM e.g. Sally Anne task- imputing Sally’s mental state even though we know the marble has been moved.
What is Piaget’s theory of childhood development?
Four major stages:
- (1) sensorimotor intelligence (0-2 years)
- (2) preoperational thinking (2-7 years)
- (3) concrete operational thinking (7-12 years)
- (4) formal operational thinking (12+)
What do early studies suggest about the development of ToM?
Perner et al. 1987- smarties tube but pencils inside. children below 4- have difficulty in accessing their mental state
What does longitudinal data suggest about the development of ToM?
The number of false belief tasks passed increases gradually with age e.g. Amsterclaw and Wellman 2006. ToM seems to develop at around 3-5
What does biological evidence suggest about the development of ToM?
White matter maturation is associated with the emergence of ToM in early childhood (3-4)
What role can siblings play in the development of ToM?
Benefit- more opportunity to understand minds however can be a hinderance? Zajonc found that only children had higher IQs
Some research to suggest that ToM only helps w siblings if they are older
What role can parental influence have in the development of ToM?
Dunn et al- observations of mothers interacting w infants at 33 months found children of parents who described mental states were more likely to pass task