Theory of mind

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The phrase theory of mind (often abbreviated in ToM) is used in several related ways:

  • general categories of theories of mind - theories about the nature of 'mind', and its structure and processes;
  • theories of mind related to individual minds;
  • in recent years, the phrase "theory of mind" has more commonly been used to refer to a specific cognitive capacity: the ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own[1] ; and
  • in philosophy, it refers to the large area of philosophy relating to mind, or to particular theories about what mind is. (See main article philosophy of mind.)

Contents

[edit] General category usage

In functionalist theories, functionalists such as Georges Rey explore computational theories of mind [2] that are independent of the physical instantiation of any particular mind.

In brain-mind identity theories, biologists such as Gerald Edelman are concerned with the details of how brain activity produces mind and work within the confines of the identity theory of mind [3]

In developmental psychology, theory of mind is a basic understanding of how the mind works and how it influences behaviour.

[edit] Theories of mind attributable to individuals

These include theories of mind produced by individuals, such as Brentano's theory of mind. Georges Rey and Gerald Edelman were mentioned above as examples of people who deal with different broad categories of theories of mind within which they have each produced their own personal theories of mind.

[edit] "Theory of mind" - interpersonal understanding of mental states

This theory of mind covers two separate concepts:

  1. gaining the understanding that others also have minds, with different and separate beliefs, desires, mental states, and intentions; and
  2. being able to form operational hypotheses (theories), or mental models, with a degree of accuracy, as to what those beliefs, desires, mental states, and intentions are.

A Theory of Mind appears to be a usually-innate potential ability in humans (and, some argue, in certain other species), but one requiring social and other experience over many years to bring successfully to adult fruition. It is probably a continuum, in the sense that different people may develop more, or less, effective theories of mind, varying from very complete and accurate ones, through to minimally functional. It is often implied or assumed (but not stated explicitly) that this does not merely signify conceptual understanding "other people have minds and think", but also some kind of understanding and working model that these thoughts and states and emotions are real and genuine for these people and not just ungrounded names for parroted concepts. Empathy is a related concept, meaning experientially recognizing and understanding the states of mind, including beliefs, desires and particularly emotions of others without injecting your own, often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes".

[edit] Typical development of ToM

Most children below the age of 4 years fail standard tests of theory of mind, such as the Sally-Anne test, but children older than 4 years pass these tests. For this reason, psychologists have often believed that theory of mind abilities do not develop fully until age 4. However, a recent study by Onishi and Baillargeon (Science, 2005) suggests that even 15 month old infants can predict another person's behaviour based on that person's belief, even when the infant knows that the adults belief is false. Most psychological theories of theory of mind cannot easily account for this result.

[edit] Non-human ToM

As the title of Premack and Woodruff's 1978 article "Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?" indicates, it is also important to ask if other animals besides humans have a genetic endowment and social environment that allows them to acquire a theory of mind in the same way that human children do. This is a contentious issue because of the problem of inferring from animal behavior the existence of thinking, of the existence of a concept of Self or Self-awareness, or of particular thoughts. Each of us knows by introspection that we have beliefs, desires and intentions and we infer by extension and by using our own self-developed theory of mind, that all other humans with normal minds also share this cognitive ability, and usually have thoughts and feelings which we discover in fact differ from our own. Researchers who have spent a great deal of time with apes tend to accept the likelihood that other apes also have a theory of mind. For example, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh takes this position in her book Kanzi. Others such as C. M. Heyes [4] take the position that we need not infer that chimps in the wild have any understanding of the mental states of other chimps.

There is interest in the idea that certain learned behaviors, such as human language behavior, facilitate the development of a theory of mind in both humans and chimps. In the context of language users, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh (Kanzi, page 272) has described "theory of mind" as the idea that "knowledge states of the speaker and the listener can in fact be different."

[edit] Autism and Theory of Mind

There has also been speculation that certain humans fail to progress through the normal cognitive developmental stages that lead to acquisition of a theory of mind. In 1985 Simon Baron-Cohen, Alan Leslie and Uta Frith published an article called "Does the autistic child have a theory of mind?" in which it was suggested that children with autism have particular difficulties with task requiring the child to understand another person's beliefs. These difficulties persist when children are matched for verbal skills (Happe, 1995, Child Development) and have been taken as a key feature of autism.

[edit] Theory of Mind in the Brain

With the advent of neuroimaging techniques, particular brain regions that seem to be important for theory of mind have been identified by researchers including Chris Frith and Rebecca Saxe. http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146%2Fannurev.psych.55.090902.142044

A paper published in 2004 by Samson and colleagues in Nature Neuroscience suggests that people who have a stroke which damages the temporoparietal junction of the brain (between the temporal lobe and parietal lobe have difficulty with some theory of mind tasks. This shows that theory of mind abilities are associated with specific parts of the human brain.

[edit] Psychological Theories of Theory of Mind

There are several competing psychological theories which attempt to explain theory of mind abilities in children and adults.

[edit] Theory Theory

claims that children have a naive "theory" or folk psychology which they use to understand other people's mental states. e.g. Gopnik & Wellman, 1994

[edit] Simulation Theory

claims that children understand other people's mental states by imagining how they would behave in that situation, i.e. by simulating the other person. e.g. Harris 1992, Mind & Language. The recent discovery of mirror neurons has been taken as evidence for simulation theory.

[edit] See also

Wikibooks
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[edit] External links

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ Premack, D. G. and Woodruff, G. (1978). "Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?" Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 1:515-526.
  2. ^ "The Computational Theory of Mind" - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  3. ^ "Identity theory of mind" - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  4. ^ Theory of Mind in Nonhuman Primates
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