Developing individual in society Lecture 3 : 29/10/2020 Theory of mind Lecturer: Fenja Ziegler Piaget: Children are egocentric, they have no understanding of other individuals' thoughts, feelings, emotions or perspectives. Black box problem: - We have no direct access to a person's thoughts, feelings, or mind. - Even displays of emotions can be inaccurate when talking about an individual's internal state. For example, a person crying may be crying because they are happy, not sad. It is almost impossible to tell a person's internal state from their emotions without context. - Expressions are also a social signal, not necessarily a reflection of internal states. Expressions can be faked, such as a fake smile. It does not necessarily relay true emotion. Mind Reading: The capacity of ordinary people for mental state attribution, prediction and explanation. Premack fl Woodruff : Wondered if the chimpanzee has a theory of mind. Theory of Mind = The ability to impute mental states to self and others. Mental states: Such as beliefs, desires, thoughts, knowledge, sensations and emotions. Called a 'theory' as there is no direct access to the mind. These states are not directly observable but can be used to predict human behaviour. Showed the chimpanzee multiple non-verbal videos involving a human trying to solve an issue. The chimpanzee was shown pictures, some of which solved this problem, and others which were irrelevant. It was agreed that no, chimpanzees do not have a state of mind. Researchers turned to investigate the human's theory of mind, such as when it is developed, do children have a state of mind? Etc. False belief: Your belief is not correct in reality. For example, you believe that your pen is in your desk, but it is actually on your shelf. True belief: Your belief is correct in reality. For example, you believe that your pen is in your desk, and that pen is actually in the desk. False beliefs can be used to predict and explain behaviour using abstract concepts, such as the mind, desires, and thoughts.
Test of false belief - Has to reveal something profound but must be simple enough for a child to understand. Wimmer and Perner - Unexpected transfer test A test to understand if young children have a theory of mind. The basis of the test goes: - A named puppet takes some food ttsuch as chocolate) out of the cupboard and eats some of it. The puppet then places this food back in the cupboard. - Another puppet takes this food and places it in the fridge. - The child is then asked where the first puppet will now look for their chocolate. - The children have seen the food placed in the fridge, but the first puppet did not see this. This test was devised to see if the children base their answer off of what they know, or off of what the first puppet believes to be true. - It was fond that 4-5 year ttLess than 50% correct) old children