Theory of Mind
Basic Postulates
Practical Validity (Reading the Mind in the Eyes test)
Evolution
Philosophical & Psychological Roots
Empirical Investigation
knowledge that others' mental states may be different from one's own states
capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them
considered crucial for success in everyday human social interactions & when analyzing, judging, and inferring others' behaviors
Group member avg scores on RME test are possibly drivers of successful group performance
High group average scores on the RME are correlated with the collective intelligence factor
Constantly differentiates control groups from individuals with functional autism or Asperger syndrome
The theory-theorist posits a veritable theory that people use to reason about others' minds.
Two contrasting approaches in the philosophical literature to theory of mind are theory-theory and simulation theory.
Such a theory is developed automatically and innately, though it is instantiated through social interactions
The philosophical roots of the relational frame theory (RFT) account of theory of mind arise from contextual psychology which refers to the study of organisms interacting in and with a historical and current situational context
False-belief task :- a psychological test, used in developmental psychology to measure a person's social cognitive ability to attribute false beliefs to others
Unexpected contents - experimenters ask children what they believe to be the contents of a box that looks as though it holds a candy called "Smarties"
The "false-photograph" task also measures theory of mind development. In this task, children must reason about what is represented in a photograph that differs from the current state of affairs
Theory of mind has its roots in two defensive reactions—immobilization stress and tonic immobility
are implicated in the handling of stressful encounters and also figure prominently in mammalian childrearing practices
Their combined effect seems capable of producing many of the hallmarks of theory of mind, such as eye-contact, gaze-following, inhibitory control, and intentional attributions.