Fortunately, there are other methods that can be used to determine whether or not children are attributing mental states. For instance, in an elegant study by O'Neill (1996), 2-year-olds observed as an attractive toy was put on a high shelf. As this happened, the child's parent was either present or absent. When later asking for help in retrieving the toy, the children were more likely to name the toy and gesture to the location when their parent had not been present to witness the placement of the toy than if their parent had been present. This suggests that they modify their behavior according to the knowledge states of other people (i.e. whether or not their parent possesses a given belief), and that they have a tacit appreciation of the circumstances under which beliefs are formed.
