1⃣️ Theory of mind refers to the ability to represent, conceptualize, and reason about mental states. In its fully mature stage, theory of mind is a domain-specific conceptual framework that treats certain perceptual input as an agent, an intentional action, a belief, and so forth. This framework can be activated very easily, as Heider and Simmel (1944) have shown with stimuli as simple as triangles that move about in space. Theory of mind arguably underlies all conscious and unconscious cognition of human behavior (Malle, 2001a), thus resembling a system of Kantian categories of social perception—i.e., the concepts by which people grasp social reality (Kant, 1998/1787). But the framework not only classifies perceptual stimuli; it also directs further processing of the classified input, including inference, prediction, and explanation (Malle,
2001a)
2⃣️ Whatever future evolution may bring, the evidence at hand suggests that both language and theory of mind evolved in grades (MacWhinney, this volume) and in constant interaction, serving one primary adaptive goal: to improve social coordination.
<The Relation Between Language and Theory of Mind in Development and Evolution >（Bertram F. Malle,2001)
