26th October 2023

Theory of Mind

‘We are all each of us riddles when unknown one to the other.’ – Mary Shelley

Theory of mind refers to the ability to understand and ascribe mental states to others. You may have heard of this ability as ‘mentalising’. This capacity to infer the beliefs, intentions, emotions, and thoughts of others is often compromised in autism spectrum disorder, antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder and during acute psychosis. It is believed that the Theory of Mind correlates to our capacity to empathise. The neuroanatomical regions related to the Theory of Mind include the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, interparietal cortex and medial frontal cortex.

Investigating the theory of mind

Theory of mind develops in children between 3 ½ and 4 years of age. Several social experiments have convincingly demonstrated the theory of mind and its developmental roots.

False belief tasks

False belief tasks comprise two levels: first-order tasks and second-order tasks. First-order tasks explore our ability to infer one person’s mental state, i.e., what does Michael think? In contrast, second-order tasks explore our ability to infer what other people may infer about each other, i.e. what does Michael think of Beatrice?

The Sally-Anne Test is a first-order false belief task that often features in exams. In this test, a child observes the actions of two dolls (Sally and Anne) in relation to the placement of a marble. Sally places a marble in a basket and leaves the room. Anne then takes the marble and places it in a box. Sally returns, and the child is then asked a series of questions, including where Sally will look for the marble. A child will pass the test if they are able to recognise that Sally will look for the marble in the basket as she has a false belief about the location of the marble, based on the information she had before leaving the room. Children aged 4 are typically able to pass this first-order false belief task – a child aged 3 would not.

The John and Mary Story Task is a second-order false belief task. In this test, a child hears a story about two characters: John and Mary. Both children are playing in a park. On the arrival of an ice cream van, John leaves to get some money. Mary then sees the ice cream van leave the park to drive to a new spot. On the way, the driver sees John and informs him of his new location, but Mary is unaware of this. The child is then asked: ‘Where does Mary think John will go to buy ice cream?’. To pass the test, the child would need to acknowledge that John would go to the park. Children no earlier than age 6 are typically able to pass this higher-order false belief task.

References

• Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Bradford Books.
• Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(4), 515-526.
• Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001). Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: The truth about false belief. Child Development, 72(3), 655-684.