Theory of Mind

Definition

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to humans' everyday mind reading. It is the commonsense ability to attribute mental states (such as beliefs, desires, and intentions) to one's self and to other people as a way of making sense of and predicting behavior. For example, your thought that “John thinks I ate his sandWich” reflects a basic understanding that John has internal mental states much like your own, though the specific content of those mental states may differ from your own (in this case, perhaps you believe that Mary ate John's sandwich). ToM is fundamental to everyday social life: Normally it is taken for granted that others have beliefs and desires and that they act in accordance with those mental states; furthermore, it is assumed that other people use their ToM to think about another's mental states (e.g., “John believes that I intend to make him believe that I didn't crave his sandwich”). Although potatoes and houseflies are considered incapable of these complex forms of thought, it is less obvious whether or not other mammals and birds have a ToM. The emerging consensus on this issue is that other species have either highly limited or, more often the case, no ToM abilities resembling those of humans. Therefore, ToM may be one of the crucial attributes that make humans human and distinguish humans' social lives from the experience and behavior of all other social animals. Also, among humans, it is possible that newborn babies do not have a ToM, and so child psychologists are very interested in understanding when and how children acquire this ability.

Background

The term ToM was coined by primatologists David Premack and Guy Woodruff, who were interested in whether chimpanzees could use abstract concepts such as desire and memory to interpret others' behavior. Although the matter remains controversial, ToM capabilities appear to be uniquely human. Other species may communicate with elaborate signaling and vocalizations, but they are probably not drawing on a rich understanding of mental states and how they influence behavior. Their social interactions might be characterized in the same way as your interaction with a vending machine:You do such-and-such, this thing responds in a useful and predictable way, but you don't necessarily believe that it thinks, feels, or has any intentions of its own.

Basic Research

In addition to primatologists, scholars in diverse disciplines have taken an interest in ToM. Evolutionary psychologists have noted that the evolution of human language and social cooperation may have built on ToM. That is, without ToM, human language probably would not have developed into its present state. Some [Page 986]philosophers contend that ToM figures centrally in human consciousness, since the appreciation that one's perception of the world may differ from others' requires knowing that one knows (i.e., metacognition). The most extensive ToM research comes from developmental psychologists. ToM may seem like a perfectly obvious and basic capacity, but humans are not born with it. As the psychologist Jean Piaget noted, young children have difficulty appreciating that their construal of reality may not be shared by everyone. Gradually they begin to understand that their mental states are unique to their perspective and begin to represent others' perspectives based on knowledge of their mental states. ToM is often assessed in children using a false belief task: Show a child that a container labeled “lollipops” actually contains pencils rather than the expected candy. Ask the child what someone else who has not seen the contents of the container will think it contains. Most 3-year-olds incorrectly predict “pencils,” whereas most 4-year-olds predict “lollipops.” Passing this test requires thinking through what another person would think given knowledge that differs from one's own.

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