EPY 2050 Human Growth and Development

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EPY 2050Human Growth and Development

• Theory of Mind
• (Ages 2-6)

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What is Theory of Mind?

• A coherent set of ideas about mental activities
• Metacognition
• Thinking about thought
• The developing stage when one recognizes that
  others thoughts and feelings may be different
  than their own.
• At what age do children begin to recognize that
  what they think may be different from what others
  may think?

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Development of Theory of Mind

• Awareness of Mental Life infancy to age 3
• Mastery of false beliefs around age 4
• Milestones
• Age 1 View others as intentional beings who are
  available for communication
• Age 2 Aware of others emotions and desires.
• Age 3 Realize that thinking is internal, but
  focus on desires.
• Age 4 Realize both beliefs and desires determine
  behavior, awareness of false beliefs.

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Example of a False-Belief Task

• https//www.youtube.com/watch?v41jSdOQQpv0

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Discussion Questions

• What are the implications of theory of mind
  development for childrens social competence and
  for their success in school?
• What factors, both those in the social
  environment and those internal to the child,
  influence the rate of development?
• Some researchers claim that false-belief tasks,
  which require verbal responses, grossly
  underestimate younger childrens ability to
  attribute false beliefs to others. What do you
  think?

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Factors that Contribute to Preschoolers Theory
of Mind

• Language and verbal reasoning
• Cognitive skills
• Make-believe play
• Social interaction

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Language and Verbal Reasoning

• Ability to reflect on thoughts - greatly aided by
  language.
• Many studies indicate that language ability
  strongly predicts preschoolers grasp of false
  belief.
• Ability depends in part whether the childs
  language refers to mental states or only
  indirectly.

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Cognitive Abilities

• Ability to inhibit inappropriate responses, think
  flexibly, and plan fosters mastery of false
  belief.
• To do well on false-belief tasks, children must
  suppress an irrelevant response
• the tendency to assume others knowledge and
  beliefs are the same as their own.

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Make-Believe Play

• Express the thoughts and emotions of the
  characters they portray and then reason about
  their implications.
• Extensive fantasy play leads to an advanced
  understanding of false belief and other aspects
  of the mind.

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Social Interactions

• Mothers of securely attached babies are more
  likely to comment appropriately on their infants
  mental states.
• Preschoolers with older siblings are exposed to
  more family talk about others perspectives.

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Limitations of the Young Childs Theory of Mind

• Preschoolers believe that mental activity stops
  when there are no obvious cues indicating that
  someone is thinking.
• Before age 5, children pay little attention to
  the process of thinking.
• Preschoolers believe that all events must be
  directly observed to be known.
• Preschoolers underestimate how much mental
  activity people engage in.

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Additional Theory of Mind Videos

• Catalyst Theory of Mind (what advances
  development) http//youtu.be/hbQJms8F3x8
• A simple map of typical 'Theory of Mind'
  development - http//youtu.be/YiT7HFj2gv4
• False belief task with a child with autism -
  http//youtu.be/QjkTQtggLH4
• Joint Attention (autism, down syndrome, and
  typical child) - http//youtu.be/tif4U3OjT2M